Unpredictable Treasure Hunter - Revised
by Jathal
Summary: Gina Diggers, world renowned explorer, thought that she'd found a clue to a legendary continent. Turns out that she'd found much more than she'd bargained for. Naruto/Multi, large plot revisions are on the way.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, revised Chapter 1 is here! Read and review, but more importantly I hope you enjoy what I've added. The main idea for the chapter is similar to the original one, but there are several things in this chapter that are different and will be important to the rest of the story

* * *

Since she had been 'born', Brianna had discovered many things that she truly enjoyed. Good food, sleeping in, not to mention young, hot ... ahem, male companionship. These were just a few of the things she loved most about her new life. But there were some things that she truly hated and of course she was experiencing both at this very moment: the first was being stuck in the cold, while the other was being stuck in the dark.

They were silly things to be afraid of, considering one of the things she'd inherited from Britanny was her infravision. Both her sisters thought she was even more boy crazy than Gina, but the truth of the matter was that she really just wanted someone to be there with her while she slept, even if it was just a one night stand so that she wasn't alone. 'And since neither of my sister's know this, they thought it was a GREAT idea to split up while exploring this dark... spooky...dammit! That's it,' Brianna thought vehemently while she scanned the dark cavern she'd found. 'The next time Gina asks me to help her on an expedition, I'm staying home!'

Chapter 1

 _Flashback -_

 _Earlier that morning - Zhejiang, China_

"So this ancient temple of... What was it called again, Gina?"

Gina sighed softly, her gaze shifting towards the her sister as she watched Britanny lazily leaf through the magazine in her hands. Resisting the urge to growl in annoyance, Gina realized that her were-cheetah sibling wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything she said unless she was finished with her 'reading'. Reaching for the brightly colored magazine, Gina tore the fashion mag from Britanny's grasp before her younger sister could even begin to protest. "Now that I have your attention, Britanny, I'm sure you'll actually hear me when I tell you that we are headed to a site that was known as the Temple of Mu. Apparently it was some kind of outpost for a continent that disappeared approximately 7,000 years ago."

"Wow, sounds like Atlantis!" Glancing at the rear view mirror, Gina grinned at the sight of Brianna as she finished reassembling a pulse rifle that she'd brought.

"That's one of the names for the same place. Mu, Atlantis, Hyperborea, Thule, Lemuria, Rutas... each of them have a single thing in common. All of them are the same continent, but no one has been able to prove that it actually existed. I'm hoping that we'll find something that will give us a clue to our next step in finding this lost land."

Nodding slowly, Brianna paused for a moment before turning looking at the rear view mirror. "Gina, there's something we need to talk about. Is it just me or has something been off for the last few weeks at home? It's almost like... well, like..."

"Live we're being watched."

Tearing her gaze from the mirror, Gina turned towards Britanny, the young were-cheetah resting her chin on her fist while staring at the cloud filled sky. "Watched? But that's impossible! My security systems haven't detected any intruders!"

Arching an eye brow as she turned towards the eldest Diggers sister, Britanny let out a short bark of laughter and shook her head. "Yeah, because no one has ever gotten into the house without us knowing. Need I remind you about the 'rodent'?"

Wincing lightly at the memory of the demon that had taken on the shape of an unassuming mouse, Gina let out a soft grumble of annoyance. A soft tone drew her attention to the car's on board systems, the instruments alerting her that they were closing in on their destination. "That was an aberration! It used magic and... and since when are mice dangerous? Even though I think it's impossible, what proof do you have that someone is in our home?"

"What about the faint smell of ramen that's covering every inch of the house?" Gina gave Britanny a cockeyed expression, but before she could respond Brianna cleared her throat.

"And don't forget that all of her ramen is missing."

Gina looked back and forth between Brianna and Britanny before turning back to the car's controls with a dismissive tone. "Oh please, I've never detected the scent of ramen in the house."

Leaning forward, Brianna flicked the back of Gina's head reproachfully before responding. "Gina, before you take that tone with us you should remember we both have heightened senses. Trust us, the house smells like ramen. Something is definitely up. There have been several times I've felt like someone's been watching me, but the more damning evidence is your 'ramen locker'."

Blushing lightly at Brianna's mention of the storage locker she'd stocked with the ready made food, Gina refused to meet either sister's eyes. "H-hey, I was going through a rough time at school! I didn't have time for anything more elaborate!"

"That's not the point, sis. When was the last time you checked on it? And I mean actually opened it up and looked inside?"

Pausing for a moment at Brianna's question, Gina hummed softly as she stroked her chin. "About a year ago?"

"Well, sometime between then and now something cleaned it out. And I mean CLEANED IT OUT, there wasn't a single pack left in that thing."

"That's impossible!" Reaching for the dashboard, Gina tapped several buttons until she heard a series of tones. "Skynet, stock level of locker Alpha Sigma."

" _LOCKER IS CURRENTLY AT FULL CAPACITY, GINA."_

Eyes widening in shock as she turned her head toward the occupant in the backseat, Gina's mouth opened and closed for several moments as Brianna gave her a deadpan stare. "Someone's hacked into Skynet! What the hell is going on?"

"You think that's messed up, Gina? There are times I'll find things still running even though I know I've turned them off. Like last week I found a dozen computers in the house that were still running, so I checked the recent history and I found some irregularities."

"What irregularities?"

"Geographical information for the middle of nowhere, searches regarding unexplained phenomenon for the last several hundred years, how to make home cooked ramen... Gina, you have to admit something fishy is going on here."

"And Gina? Even the car smells like ramen." Gina was about to respond when a soft thump from the back of the car attracted everyone's attention, the three girls sharing surprised expressions before they turned towards the backseat. After several seconds of silence Gina spun around, stabbing several controls on steering wheel before slamming her foot down hard on the accelerator. Ignoring her sister's protests Gina guided the flying car towards their destination, post haste.

"Gina!" / "Sis, what the hell!?"

Gina spotted the platform she'd chosen as their landing zone after her satellites had located the temple. Her hands swiftly running over the controls, Gina impatiently waited until she felt the car finish it's landing cycle. Tearing her seatbelt free, Gina leaped from the the car and ran towards the rear of the car and immediately opened the trunk. Her eyes narrowing as she stared at the empty compartment, Gina took several moments to study every inch of the small enclosure before turning towards her sisters with a bewildered expression. "It's... empty."

Following her sister to the back of the car, Britanny stared at the empty trunk for several moments before taking a few deep whiffs of the compartment. "Hmmm, rubber, oil... a slight undertone of ramen, just like the house." Reaching into the small trunk, Britanny pulled the spare tire free and placed it against the bumper before pressing her hand against the carpeted floor. "Nothing cloaked... I dunno, sis. Maybe it's haunted?"

Frowning thoughtfully, Gina pulled out a tablet, her fingers flying over the devices controls for several moments before she pocketed the item once again. "I've redirected a satellite directly overhead. If anything moves on the ground, we'll see it. If nothing happens between now and when we're getting ready leave the site... well, I'll think of something else. For now, let's get our gear ready."

Turning towards the tall structure that was carved into the mountainside, Gina took notice of various clues the large building was providing as she listened to the familiar sounds of her sisters manhandling various pieces of equipment through the light gate. Turning away from the impressive sight, Gina smiled at the sight of Britanny as she flexed her glove covered hands in anticipation, a similarly grinning Brianna cocking her rifle as the bright sunlight glinted off of her suit of powered armor. "Ok, here we go!"

* * *

"This place is a dump!" Gina stopped for a moment and took in the structure's dilapidated state, the archeologist unable to disagree her sister's reaction.

"Brit, this place is thousands of years old. I doubt there's been anyone around to clean up so it's kind of expected to be a mess." When the trio had cautiously entered the temple's surprisingly clear antechamber, Gina was hopeful that this trend would continue as they delved deeper into the building. But her hopeful wish was quashed he moment the trio entered the main hall when a room full of destroyed and melted stone work greeted the trio. "It almost looks like some kind of battle took place here. The temperature needed to melt stone is at least 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning that this had to have been a truly epic conflagration. But the real question is what the heck happened here?"

Deciding to come back to this mystery later, Gina and her sisters continued to travel deeper into the ruined temple until they reached an untouched door. Rubbing her chin thoughtfully at the sight of the massive portal, Gina carefully schooled her expression while taking note of the characters etched into the surrounding stonework. Brittany crossed her arms under her breasts and sighed impatiently, while Brianna fingered her rifle trigger as she made a slow circuit around the room.

"So, what does it say? Can we crack this thing open yet?" Gina stepped back, stared at the door for several moments and turned towards Britanny.

"Yeah, we can, but that's not the problem. The real problem are the characters on the door. They're not Chinese, ancient or otherwise. They're also not any of the dead languages from past empires that I'm familiar with." Brittany threw her arms up in exasperation before gesturing impatiently at the sealed doorway.

"Big deal, sis, so it's a new language for you to learn. Let's just open the door and see what's inside." Gina slowly shook her head and pointed once again again at the characters engraved in the stones.

"No, I do recognize them, but that's the problem. It's... well, it's pretty much modern Japanese."

Britanny cocked an eyebrow as she looked at the various characters carved into the stone before turning her attention towards her sister. "And?"

"Britanny, don't you think it's weird to find modern Japanese in a temple that's thousand of years old?" As Brittany continued to look at Gina in confusion, Gina sighed as she shook her head.. "The Japanese used here is written in a slightly older version of Kana, which was created around 800 A.D. There is no evidence of anyone having been here for at least a thousand years, so how did a modern writing style end up here?" Before Britanny could respond, the sound of stone grating against stone froze both girls in their tracks as the doorway slowly opened. Turning towards the third member of their group, Gina and Brianna watched a grinning Brianna pass between the pair and walk through the open door.

"I found the controls! Now, lets see what's inside!" Gina's expression turned frosty as she packed up the few tools she'd been using before chasing after her sister, the half were-cheetah standing perfectly still on a nearby platform. Gina tuned out everything else as she stalked towards sister, an angry poke to Brianna's ribs going unnoticed as she continued to stare towards the chamber they'd entered.

"Brianna, what the heck are you doing? We need to be careful, something is not... right... whoa..." Gina trailed off as she finally turned her attention towards the chamber the pair had entered. A vast city stretched out before them, the soft flowing lines of each building evoking an almost aquatic feel to the massive chamber. Despite the fact that they were deep within the mountain there were clusters of glowing crystals sprinkled through the chamber, the natural light source providing more than enough light for the sisters to see. "Amazing, this is more than I could have hoped for! This city is an amazing find, I can't wait to see what other wonders we'll discover here!"

Brittany whistled appreciatively and placed her hands on her hips as she settled in beside the wildly grinning pair. "Wow, now this is nice. Almost makes me think that living underground wouldn't be so bad. So long as there was a shopping mall." Tearing her gaze from the wondrous sight before her, Britanny giggled softly as she watched Gina nearly skipping towards a large staircase that led into the city. Looking towards her sister, Brianna and Brittany gave each other a pointed look before laughing softly at Gina's antics. "And there she goes, geeking out about the stuff she's found once again."

"Come on, Cheetah," Brianna said as the pair followed their sister at a more sedate pace. "You're just as bad when there's a sale at the mall, admit it."

"Yes, I'll admit that I'm a little... 'overzealous' when it comes to shopping. Sometimes. But the stuff I buy can be seen and used whenever I want."

"That is true... but it's this 'stuff' that pays for your 'stuff'."

As the pair reached the bottom of the stairs, Britanny gave Brianna a deadpan stare before nodding in agreement . "You have a point. Let's go make sure sis doesn't break her neck or something in her excitement." After several minutes they finally caught up with Gina while she was busy inputting some information into her tablet.

"Amazing! This place has to be at least a mile across. And these buildings, they look like they were grown right out of the ground! Look, bio-luminescent crystals to get past the lack of sunlight! Ooooh, look at that over there!" Gina rushed towards an ornate fountain, the ancient system that fed it apparently still working as intended as clear water flowed into a large stone basin. Brianna rested her rifle on her shoulder and looked at Brittany, the pair grinning at their overly enthusiastic sister as she gushed about the 'Greatest Find of the Century!'. Just as Gina was about to pass the pair once more, her eye catching sight of another 'incredible find', Brittany reached out and grabbed her sister's battered leather jacket. Squawking in indignation as she was lifted into the air, Gina managed to twist around and glare at her taller sibling.

"Hey, what's the big idea! I was... OW!" Brittany flicked Gina's forehead lightly, the chastised scientist pouting as she focused on her sister.

"Calm down sis, we don't know if this place is dangerous or not. So how are we going to do this? Do we stick together or should we split up to cover more ground?"

End Flashback

Grumbling under her breath about old caves and the crazy people that used to live in them, Brianna held onto her plasma rifle with a death grip while she scanned the area. As she waited for her on board computer's results, Brianna tilted her head back to stare at the stalactite dense ceiling. Swallowing loudly, Brianna tore her gaze from the tons of rock hanging overhead at the sound of a soft ping from her armour's computer. "Let's see, initial analysis... no life signs, heat signatures or electronics... wait, whatta mean there's contact on the motion sensors?" Tapping several keys on the side of her helmet, Brianna watched silently as multiple lines of script slowly scrolled across her field of vision as her armor performed a self diagnostic. After several minutes of reading the results, the half were-cheetah growled in annoyance, shouldered her rifle and tore her helmet from her head. "Stupid thing is broken, it has to be. After all this time there can't be anything that big still living down here. And if it were some kind of vermin, they'd show up on the thermals."

Tsking softly, Brianna turned the helmet around in her hands, studying the piece of armor for several moments before shrugging her shoulders. 'Well, there's nothing I can do about it now, it'll just have to wait till later.' But just before she donned her helmet once more, the sound of falling stones echoed through the dark cavern. Her ears twitching, Brianna looked over her shoulder and yelped in panic, the sight of a large stone statue surprising the nervous woman. A burst of her were-cheetah speed sent Cheetah racing across the room as she slapped her helmet back in place. Spinning around once she felt she'd gone far enough, Brianna dropped to a knee, raised her rifle and took aim at... an old statue? Brianna stared at the tall sculpture while trying to get her breathing back under control and after several moments she stood and approached the statue. "How could I have missed you when I came in?"

As Brianna leaned in closer to examine the old sculpture, she never even saw the statue's eyes as they began glowing brightly.

Meanwhile, Outside...

The stone platform was as silent as a tomb, the elevation of the mountain preventing all but the most hardy (or foolish) of creatures from reaching the plateau. The Ginamobile sat silently as it awaited the return of it's driver, but the spare tire Britanny had neglected to put back in the trunk let out a relived sigh before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Brilliant blue eyes blinked slowly as a tall, lanky blonde haired man exited the cloud of smoke, a bandaged hand running through his short hair as he pushed himself to his feet. "Ugh, and this is why I left infiltration missions to the others. How the hell could I forget that both Brit and Brianna have enhanced senses? You'd think I'd have learned not to discount how sensitive a nose can be, what with growing up around Kiba and all, but nooooo. Not me, no siree, I just act like they'll never find me cause I'm a bad ass shinobi. Ero-Sennin's probably rolling in his grave right now, Kami rest his soul." Uzumaki Naruto yawning loudly while stretching out his stiff right arm, the tall blonde turning towards the dilapidated temple. "Since the girls are gone, how about I take a look at this place?"

Naruto studied the ancient ruins as he slowly approached the ancient structure, one of his hands stroking his chin thoughtfully as he entered the main hall. "There's something familiar about this place." After entering the old temple, Naruto paused for a moment as he studied the familiar sight of battle, his expression hardening as he reached a hand towards some of the half melted stone. "A katon jutsu did this... a powerful one. And those blast marks, they look similar to the scorch marks from an exploding tag. But that pattern... it's definitely strange. Something really weird is going on here..."

His expression growing more grave, Naruto's pace picked up as he made his way deeper into the temple. Once he entered the inner chambers his eyes passed over the warning as he approached the open doors. "Well, it didn't stop the girls, so it can't be that... well, shit."

Directly above the archway was another message, the only difference being that it was glowing brightly hand seemed to hover in mid-air. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he saw several seals etched into the doorway, a smile appearing as he nodded slowly. "Hmm, chakra detection seals. They won't activate unless someone possessing a high enough lreserves approaches. Very advanced stuff." Tearing his gaze from the seals, Naruto squinted his eyes as he read the message.

 **THE SERPENTS HAVE TURNED ON US, WE CANNOT LET THEM ROAM FREE.**

 **DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO FOOL YOU, THEY WILL TURN ON YOU THE MOMENT IT SUITS THEIR NEEDS.**

 **LEAVE THIS PLACE AND NEVER COME BACK**

After several moments the glowing characters faded from view, leaving the frowning Uzumaki staring at the open door. "Hang on, this door was sealed against anyone without enough chakra. How the hell did they open it... unless... oh you stupid idiots, they tied the lock seal into the detection matrix! That never works, the seals can't properly differentiate between people in the area and it'll open for anyone!" Breathing deeply, Naruto closed his eyes as he fell back on lessons from another lifetime, the blonde's body filling natural energy that allowed his senses to stretch throughout the system of caverns.

"So there's two people up top... looks like Gina and Britanny. So that would mean... oh come on, how the hell does one person get into so much trouble?" Naruto had managed to locate Brianna's unique chakra, but it was not alone. The half were-cheetah was amid a group of smaller signatures, several of which appeared to be slowly approaching the unsuspecting woman. Sighing once more, Naruto opened his eyes and grinned widely. "Well then, I guess it's time to go and save the girl."

* * *

Brianna took several steps back from the statue, her brow creased in puzzlement as she shook her head. "This... this makes no sense. It's not even a single piece of stone, how is it even held together? Maybe a sample will tell me more..." Reaching for a small pouch at her hip, Brianna pulled out a small tool and activated it, a small flame leaping from the end of the torch. Leaning towards the bizarre statue, Brianna's eyes widened when the hand she was going to take a sample from began moving. Looking up slowly, Brianna's startled gaze was greeted by a pair of brightly glowing eyes as the once immobile figure reached for her. "Oh hell no, eat this!" Rolling away from the slow moving construct, Brianna unlimbered her rifle and began firing on the advancing golem. Several shots slammed into the oncoming mass of stone, but the golem barely even flinched as it continued to slowly close in. "Shit, of course you couldn't have been an organic. Your insides would've been mush after taking those shots." Brianna reached for her hyperspace beacon to summon up some heavier weapons, but the display told her that she couldn't connect the main signal hub. Growling in frustration, Brianna pulled a oblong shape from her belt and hurled the item at the advancing golem. A powerful explosion rocked the small cavern, dust and debris obscuring Brianna's sensors for a several moments as she tried to see if she'd brought that strange construct down.

As the smoke cleared Brianna grinned at the mangled remains of the statue, but her celebration was short lived when something grabbed her shoulder in a vice like grip and flung her across the room. Her armor sparking as she slid across the uneven terrain, Brianna managed to catch herself before she crashed into a wall. Pulling another grenade from her belt, Brianna threw it towards the advancing golem when a second construct batted the explosive aside. Brianna felt her blood run cold at the sight of a third golem joining the others as they advanced towards her, each of their glowing eyes focusing on the lone woman as she continued to back away from them. 'No more explosives, the rifle's useless, no way to teleport in any heavy weapons... all I have left is one little handgun and my armor. This is not good.'

As she continued to back away from the advancing statues, Brianna finally ran out of room as she hit the cavern wall. A single golem continued to approach the trapped blonde while the others stood guard. Gritting her teeth angrily, Brianna spread her arms wide as she faced approaching construct. "Well, what are you waiting for? BRING IT!"

As she watched the construct raise it's fist towards her, Brianna closed her eyes as her thoughts turned to her loved ones. 'Dammit, this was not how it was supposed to end!' The sound of the golem's fist speeding through the air sounded like an avalanche, the half were-cheetah tensing for the final blow.

"Oi, you can open your eyes now." Eyes flying open in surprise, Brianna stared dumbly at the sight of a tall, masked blonde standing in front of her, his arms wrapped around the golem's forearm. "Wow, you are REALLY crude. Someone either had piss poor teachers, or they didn't really care about quality." Having said his piece, Brianna watched in awe as the blonde let out a loud roar and swung the golem towards it's comrades. Turning away from the airborne construct, the masked man crouched down and swiftly gave Brianna's armoured form a once over. "Are you alright?"

Brianna could do little more then watch in shock as the stone golem bounced across the floor before it fell to pieces. Once the remains of the construct crashed into the far wall, Brianna tore her eyes from the pile of rubble and focused on the young man that had just saved her life.

"Do I have your attention now?" Nodding slowly, Brianna was rewarded with a loud laugh before the tall blonde rested his hands on his knees. "Good, very good. Anything broken?"

"Just my pride." Brianna felt her cheeks grow warmer as the young man began to chuckle at her words, his hand reaching out towards her. As she stretched out her own hand towards him, Brianna's eyes widened as the remaining golems approached the pair.

"BEHIND YOU!"

Brianna watched in mounting horror as one of the stone constructs drew it's arm back, her blonde saviour waving away her warning. "Don't worry, everything will be fi..."

Brianna tried to grab his arm but it was too late, the golem's arm slamming into the blonde and catapulting him towards the wall. Her hand falling to the ground, Brianna felt tears slowly trailing down her cheeks as she looked towards the young man's crumpled body. Anger replaced sadness as Brianna turned towards the approaching construct, her hand angrily pulling her pistol free and aiming it at the mobile statue. "You fucking killed him!"

"Wow, these guys do not know how to fight a shinobi at all, let me tell ya." Brianna's mouth dropped in shock once she heard the familiar voice, a surprised squeak passing her lips as a sphere of blue energy burst through a golem's chest. The final golem turned towards his brother's killer in an attempt to avenge him, but the familiar blonde danced around each swing of the creature's boulder sized fists. After several moments of what looked like playful dodging, Brianna watched in awe as the mysterious blonde raised a brightly glowing hand and thrust his stiffened fingers through the constructs chest, the statue's hands reaching for the young man as it fell to pieces. Brianna raised a shaking finger and pointed it at the unmoving blonde while trying to make sense of what had just happened. "B-b-but...you... you should be dead!"

Nodding his head slowly, the blonde shook his arm free of the golem's remains before turning his attention to a small orb in his hand. "Yes, I see... wait, no! Dead? Seriously? Do I look dead to you?" Turning towards the far wall, Brianna's eyes widened at the sight of a shattered stalactite on the ground.

"Wait, what the... that was not there before! WHO ARE YOU?!"

Laughing softly as he pocketed the small sphere, the masked blonde turned his full attention towards Brianna and flashed her a victory sign."Uzumaki Naruto. Now that we have that out of the way, can we please go find your sisters before they run into something that'll get them killed?"

Meanwhile...

Brittany cocked her head in amusement as she continued following an ecstatic Gina, the elder Diggers sister tapping away at a tablet they made their way down a dark tunnel. 'Man, give Gina a dark, spooky crypt or ancient building and she's as happy as a clam. Honestly, it looks the same to me as all the other places I've visited over the years, I really can't see the appeal. Now if it were a shopping mall, I'd be all over that!'

Britanny and Gina had taken the upper levels of the ruined city, the excited archeologist hoping to find some form of records or evidence of what had happened to city's original inhabitants. But as they continued their investigation, more questions came to light. "This doesn't make sense, Brit. There's no sign of disease, no sign of a battle like we saw outside, no bones, no real damage to any of the interior buildings. It just looks like everyone in this place just, for lack of a better word, vanished."

"Well then," Britanny said, gesturing over her should towards the main gallery. "Why don't we go back where we started. This place is giving me the creeps."

Her pace slowing, Gina turned towards Britanny and gave her a worried look. "You're not the only one, sis. I'm getting some bizarre power readings from further in, after we've located their source we'll head back."

"Alright... I just hope Brianna's doing ok by herself."

* * *

After pushing herself to her feet, Brianna slowly approached the masked blonde, her hand reaching out towards him and gently pressing against his chest. When he didn't disappear into thin air, Brianna looked into his eyes and laughed softly at his mirthful gaze. "You're real..."

"That's right, I am real. Now since we've established that, we really should be goinGUGH!" Naruto groaned loudly as Brianna's fist slammed into his stomach, her happy expression shifting to furious anger as she watched Naruto fall to his knees.

"YOU ASSHOLE! I WAS WORRIED SICK THAT SOMEONE HAD BEEN KILLED BECAUSE OF ME! I SHOULD KICK YOUR ASS!" Breathing deeply as she tried to regain control of her anger, Brianna hovered angrily over Naruto as he coughed loudly from the floor.

"K-kami," Naruto said, a short fit of coughing interrupted his words. "What is it with girls and hitting me?"

"Well, it's you're own fault you got hit, I thought you'd died! Did you even think about how I'd react to that... wait a minute, how DID you survive? I saw your body hit that wall at terminal velocity and all that's there is a destroyed stalactite! I want answers, buddy, and I want'em now!"

Rising slowly to his feet, Naruto backed away from the visibly angry woman before holding up his empty hands. "Alright, alright! Just calm down! If I tell you, you can't hit me again. Agreed?"

Brianna scowled at the blonde as she folded her arms under her breasts. "Fine, but this better be a good explanation."

"It is. I used my chakra to save myself."

Nodding slowly at the blonde's explanation, Brianna rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she stared at the masked man. "Well, that explains everything! I said I wanted an explanation," Brianna said as she pulled her pistol free and aimed it at Naruto. "I didn't want to hear about your hokey 'spiritual beliefs'. So, lets try this again. And if I don't like what I hear, I'm gonna bust a cap in yer ass."

"Hey, it ain't no 'hokey spiritual beliefs'! We've called it chakra for hundreds of years, so we ain't gonna change it cause you don't like it! And another thing," Naruto said, the masked blonde disappearing in a swirl of leaves before appearing behind the irate woman, his hand casually snatching the pistol from her grip. "This is your experimental plasma pistol! I know the last one you made destroyed the testing equipment you rigged up, you're more likely to lose a hand then busting a cap in my ass!"

Tearing her helmet free, Brianna rounded on the masked blonde and she jabbed a finger into his chest. "Hey, this is a working prototype, I figured out what destroyed the other one ... wait a minute, how could you possibly know that?"

Naruto looked from the pistol in his hands, his eyes flicking nervously towards a now scowling Brianna as she awaited his answer. "Uh...lucky guess?"

"Wait a minute. It was you! You're the one that's been breaking into our house!"

"Oi, you make it sound like I was constantly breaking in and out! I only broke in once and stayed there... hang on, that doesn't sound any better. But it's ok," Naruto said as he placed the pistol gingerly on the ground. "I had permission... oh, BALLS." Naruto slapped a hand over his masked visage while Brianna's expression grew suspicious.

"Permission? But who could have..." Gasping loudly, Brianna angrily jabbed a finger towards the blonde. "Dad! I'll bet he had something to do with this, didn't he?"

'Dammit, the old man was right. Looks like it's time to pull out the secret weapon, here's hoping Julia was telling the truth...' Sighing loudly at the accusation, Naruto closed his eyes as he grasped the edge of his mask and revealed his face. "Yes, your dad was part of this. He wanted to make sure you and your sisters were safe, a job I should be getting back to since were stuck in a extremely dangerous place. Now are there any more questions?" After several seconds of silence, Naruto opened his eyes and restrained a smirk at the sight of a visibly stunned Brianna. 'Well, whatta ya know, she was right!'

Naruto smiled widely as he approached Brianna, his heightened senses making note of several signs that the tall blonde was starting to warm up to him. "Oi? Is everything ok?"

"...hot..." Smirking internally, Naruto acted as if he hadn't heard the young woman's comment as he rose to his feet and moved closer, a charming grin forming as Brianna let out a soft squeak of surprise.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't quite catch that last comment."

"N-n-nothing! Hey, d-didn't you say we should find Gina and Britanny?" As Brianna let out a nervous giggle, Naruto gently took Brianna's helmet from her hands and crouched down, the still giggling woman missing the triumphant grin the shinobi was sporting.

'Still got it. Welp, time to go rescue the others.' Pausing for a moment as he pulled scroll from his pouch, Naruto unfurled the roll of parchment and placed Brianna's helmet on top of it.

"Wait, what are you doing with that?"

"Simple," Naruto said, his roguish grin eliciting a blush from the taller woman. "It's easier to talk to you without the helmet. And since it'll take some time to catch up with your sisters, we should discuss a few things." A quick burst of chakra and the piece of armor vanished in a cloud of smoke, a surprised gasp following the demonstration of the shinobi's skills.

"Whoa, that was awesome! I've never seen magic like that before!"

Chuckling softly as he packed away the scroll, Naruto zipped forward and gathered the blushing half were-cheetah in his arms. Smirking as Brianna sported a massive grin, Naruto let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "Nope. Not magic, chakra." After a quick visual scan of the dark cave, Naruto spun around swiftly and raced towards a nearby tunnel that led deeper into the abandoned mountain.

Meanwhile, Brianna's mind was going into overdrive as her arms instinctively wrapped around Naruto's neck. 'OH MY GOD! He's such a hottie! A hottie... oh shit! I was gonna shoot him!'

* * *

After a half hour of walking, Britanny and Gina finally arrived at the source of the bizarre energy readings. The sight of the large grotto they'd found brought exclamation of surprise from both girls. A multitude of colors shone from the various patches of crystals scattered throughout the cave while in the center of the chamber lay what appeared to be a small pond. The calm waters glittering under soft lights, while the sight of a pillar filled with glowing runes had Gina nearly squealing in excitement. "Yes, now that's what I'm talking about! I have a good feeling about this place, Brit. Now, lets see if we can find some answers!"

While Gina setup her equipment, Britanny decided that she wanted a better look at her surroundings. Several minutes later Britanny had finished her inspection, but something continued to nag at the were-cheetah. 'There's light everywhere, except for that section over there. It's too cold for me to see anytrhing with infravision, so I'll need a light.' Glancing at her sister, Britanny shook her head at the sight of Gina, the young genius wasn't even paying attention as she tapped away at her tablet. Reaching for Gina's flashlight, Britanny shone the light at the darkened section of the cavern and swallowed loudly at what the light revealed. "Gina, there's a really big hole here!"

Grunting in acknowledgement, Gina reached into her pocket and tossed a small disc towards her sister. "Throw that down the hole."

Cocking an eyebrow at the device, Britanny did as instructed. Within moments the small piece of metal vanished from sight, a puzzled Britanny turned to Gina once more. "Now what?"

Holding up her hand, Gina tapped something on her screen before nodding slowly. "Huh, a 600 meter fall. Don't get close, if you fell from that height not even your regeneration would save you."

Swallowing loudly as she slowly backed away from the edge, Britanny felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising. "Gina, I really don't think that this place is safe. Maybe we should come back later with Bri and some remote equipment?" Looking over her shoulder, Britanny sighed angrily as Gina ignored her words as she continued making adjustments to her equipment. "Sure, I'm just the dumb muscle, what do I know. Stupid glowing rocks, stupid mysteries, just once I'd like to find...

" _Yes, what is it that you would you like to find?"_

"I'd really like to find... find... wait." Turing back towards the dimly lit room, Britanny eyes swept back and forth rapidly. "Who said that?!"

" _Down here._ " Looking down, Britanny's jaw fell at the sight of a small snake resting by her feet, it's fork tongue flicking lazily in her direction. " _Hello_."

"AHHHHHH!" Gina dropped her portable scanner and swung towards her screaming sister, her eyes widening as she watched Britanny race towards her. The scared were-cheetah managed to skid to a halt and promptly hid behind her sister, Gina shifted her attention to the dim cave in front of her.

"What!? What is it! I don't see anything!"

"Down there! IT TALKED!" Looking towards her feet, Gina crouched down and watched as a small snake slither from out of the darkness corner of the cavern and approached them

"Oh, Brit, it's just a snake. It couldn't possibly have spoken to you..."

" _Ah, but I did."_

Pausing in mid sentence, Gina stood slowly backed away from the approaching reptile. Britanny followed her sister's lead, her eyes never leaving the sight of the advancing serpent as she gave it a wild eyed gaze. "Ok, so it did speak to you. Then I apologize for my rudeness, my name is Gina Diggers. Do you have a name?"

A sibilant laugh was the serpent's only answer as it came to a halt. _"Ah, such manners. Alas, my name would be nothing but a series of meaningless hissing to a human, but you may call me Hebi. Well met, Gina Diggers. I assume you've come to learn of this place? And who is your frightened friend at your back?"_

"F-f-frightened!? You came out of n-n-nowhere and surprised me, I should make a snake skin belt outta ya for pulling that shit!"

"My apologies," Gina said as she silenced the still shivering Brianny with an angry scowl. "But my sister Britanny has a problem with snakes and it's not normal for us to find an animal that is able to communicate with us. But you are correct, I am here to learn of this place. I was hoping to find some records or clues pointing to what exactly happened here."

" _Well then, you've come to the right place. This pillar you see rising out of the pool? It is a memory stone, one which contains the secrets and history of this colony and it's original inhabitants. My kind were placed here to guard these records from any would be looters that stumbled upon this city."_

Gina's eyes narrowed as she considered Hebi's words, the small reptile patiently observing the blonde. "I see... well then, can you tell me how to access this 'memory stone'?"

Nodding it's flat head slowly, the small snake turned towards the pillar and stretched its snout towards the pool's edge Just as the reptile's body was about to pass over the edge of the pool, a bright spark of energy flared to life and the snake reared back with a pain filled hiss. _"A barrier was placed around the pool to protect the stone by a man known as Genji. All that is needed is the touch of a human and the shield will fall."_

Turning towards the pool, Gina studied the glowing pillar at the center of the room for a moment before turning back towards the polite reptile. Reaching for the holster at her hip, Gina placed her hand on the large handgun resting there as she glared at the sapient reptile. "I may be blonde, but I'm not stupid enough to blindly trust your words, Hebi. You seem much too helpful for a creature that was charged to protect this place from looters. Not to mention the fact that you seem very eager for us to bring down the barrier. I wasn't born yesterday, snake."

" _Hmmm, I seem to have miss judged you... or have I?"_ Gina's eyes widened fearfully at the sound of Britanny yowling angrily, the eldest Diggers sister activating her weapon and smoothly pulling it from her hip as she turned towards her sister. Gina 's expression hardened at the sight of a second, larger snake that had coiled around her sister as she aimed her weapon at the reptiles head. _"Now drop your weapon, Gina. We wouldn't want my brother to snap your sister's neck, would we?"_

After several moments of staring at the larger serpent Gina closed her eyes, thumbed the safety on her weapon and dropping the blaster. Turning towards Hebi, Gina scowled as the small reptile's body slowly grew until it occupied nearly half the cavern. "An illusion. I am assuming that this is your true form?"

" _You would be correct, Gina. I find it easier to conserve my chakra by assuming a smaller form. Now, unless you'd like to see my brother crush the life out of your strange looking sister, you will place your hand on the barrier as I instructed you."_ Looking back at her trapped sister, Britanny tried to shake her head but the serpent that held her simply tightened it's grip. Shaking her head in defeat, Gina strode towards the pool and placed her hand on the barrier, a large ring of characters appearing on around the pond. Within moments a loud crack was heard as the characters splintered and shattered into motes of light. _"Excellent. And now we can awaken the others. I must thank you Gina, without you stumbling upon us we may never have escaped this prison."_

"Prison?"

" _Yes, a prison. Thousands of years ago our ancestor was summoned to this place by the man that sealed off this pillar, Genji. It was child's play for the first of us to convince him and his band of followers that he was their friend, one who could show them a way of using their chakra that they had never imagined._ " Slithering through the water, the large snake hovered overtop of the pillar and chuckled darkly. _"These people were a group of Ninshu practitioners, the fools had left the elemental nations before ninjutsu had been discovered and as such they were unaware of the folly in trusting a unbound snake."_

Gina stared at the serpent intently, her mind racing as she memorized the reptile's every word. "The Elemental Nations? Is that were you are from? Are their other species like your own? What about these people that use, what was it, ninjutsu?"

Scoffing loudly, Hebi stared at the pillar for several moments before it touched a rune with it's snout. _"You are a chatty thing, Gina. Yes, there are other summon animals like us, but that really doesn't matter. The First was able to convince these people to summon more of my clan. As our numbers grew we devised a plan to remove our hosts, but we'd underestimated Genji's cunning as he managed to seal the majority of us far underground at the first sign of treachery. But now, thanks to you, we will be free once more!"_

* * *

"How much farther is it?" Brianna said, the gleeful woman wondering how much time she'd have in the blonde's arms.

"It shouldn't be much farther. I can sense both Gina and Britanny about 30 meters ahead... and about 100 meters above us." Naruto was still running at a steady pace, his attention focused on the tunnel that stretched out in front of him. Glancing down at his cargo, Naruto held back a smirk at the sight of the blush Brianna sported while her head rested comfortably against his chest.

As the pair neared the end of the tunnel, Naruto went through a quick mental check on his remaining chakra. 'Let's see... well, I've still got plenty in the tank, even without Kurama's help. As long as I don't need to do anything crazy or stupid I should be fine... wait.' Skidding to a halt, Naruto turned his attention upwards and silently stared at the ceiling. Brianna blinked slowly at the sudden stop, her head rising from it's comfortable perch and turning towards the shinobi.

"Hey, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to hurry up and grab the others."

"They're not alone anymore. Something's up there with them... and it's using chakra." Pushing hard against the stone floor, Naruto continued racing towards the tunnel exit. And as they neared the end, Naruto's chakra enhanced feet skidded across the floor, stopping just before the pair could fall into a dark chasm. Brianna swallowed loudly at she peered down into the dark abyss stretching out below them, the young clone muttering her thanks for the narrow shelf of stone they stood upon.

'That and the fact that Naruto has freaking air brakes in his feet!' Looking upwards, Brianna's eyes narrowed at the sight of a faint light. "I'm guessing that the light is from Gina and Brit." Setting Brianna back on her feet, Naruto held in a chuckle at the sight of Brianna pouting at the loss of contact before looking towards the dim light. "It'll take forever to climb that, if only I had my thruster pack..."

"Heh, no need. Watch this. _Kage Bushin no Jutsu._ "

Brianna cocked an eyebrow at the cloud of smoke that appeared out of nowhere, her nose twitching at the acrid scent. Before she knew it Brianna was surrounded by four identical Naruto's, each of them wearing the same wide grin. 'Oh my god, he's perfect! Brianna definitely wants, come to momma!'

"Shadow clones, the ultimate scouts. They can do anything the original can do and anything they learn, I learn." Raising his hand towards the clones, Naruto made several hand signs before the trio leaped towards the wall, their chakra coated feet sticking to the sheer cliff face as they ran towards the light.

"Whoa... what else can chakra do?"

Chuckling softly, Naruto pulled out his scroll and swiftly unsealed Brianna's helmet. Holding the piece of armor out towards her, Brianna grinned playfully as she reached for piece of armor. "No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. The real question is this, 'Is there anything that chakra can't do?"

Laughing softly, Brianna gave the clones a final look before the ran out of sight. Turning back towards the handsome man at her side, Brianna couldn't help but smirk as she stared at him. 'I can think of a few things, hehehe...'

* * *

As the trio of shadow clones approached the target, their breakneck pace eventually slowed to a crawl. Motioning for the others to hang back, the leader of the trio raised his head enough to see what was happening, a curse threatening to escape at the scene before him. Ducking back down, the leader of the trio motioned at one of the other clones before popping himself.

* * *

"Oh, come on... you have got to be kidding me."

"What? What is it?"

"Ugh, snakes. I hate snakes." Swearing softly, Naruto ran his bandaged hand through his hair before letting out a sigh of frustration. "Dammit, what the hell is going on here?"

Cocking an eyebrow while staring at the annoyed shinobi, Brianna pulled her pulse rifle from her back and cocked the energy weapon. "Snakes? Come on, they can't be as bad as those golems you fought earlier."

Naruto gave the grinning girl a deadpan stare. "These snakes can end up growing hundreds of meters in length, not to mention the can manipulate chakra to increase their speed and strength."

"Ok," Brianna said, her expression turning doubtful as she lowered her weapon. "I stand corrected. These snakes are bad news. So, what do we do about them?"

"Is there any chance you can talk to your sister's up there?"

Her confident expression returning, Brianna slapped her helmet on her head once more. "Let me see what I can do about that."

* * *

Gina watched helplessly as Hebi continued working on the central pillar, her mind racing as she ran through every scenario she could think of in an attempt to get both her and her sister to safety. 'If only there was a way to get a hold of Brianna, then maybe we could take them by surprise...'

As luck would have it Gina's commbud activated at that moment, the blonde forcing down the flash of hope she felt at the sound of her youngest sister's voice. _**'Hey, Gina, can you hear me? All the crap in this mountain is really fouling up the comms, but if you can hear me then make some noise."**_ Looking back and forth between her captors, Gina decided that they were sufficiently occupied that she could risk a it, her hand covering her mouth as she coughed lightly. Hebi's eyes swivelled towards her, but after several moments the massive snake turned back towards it's task. As she watched another rune wink out, Gina could have sworn she'd seen movement over by the chasm Britanny had found. _**"Nice. Ok, we've got some backup moving into position, but you need to try and stay where you are. We wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire, now would we?"**_

'Backup? Who could possibly be assisting us as backup? Did another archeologist locate the temple?'

" _ **Now here's the tricky part, you need to get the big guy to talk. If he knows what's happening he'll kill you both, according to our new friend. Hang in there, ok?"**_ A soft click and Brianna was gone, Gina's mental gears spun wildly as she tried to make head or tails of what she'd been told.

'Who else could be here? And how do they know anything about these strange creatures? How did they even... GAH! Priorities, Gina! Save the questions for later! Once we get out of here, then you can ask our mysterious rescuer just what the hell is going on!' Taking a deep breath, Gina squared her shoulders bravely and turned towards her captor.

"What exactly are you doing? If that pillar is controlling some kind of stasis field, then shouldn't destroying it free the rest of your kind?"

Ignoring Gina's question for a moment, Hebi's snout touched another random glyph. A high pitch tone echoed through the cavern before the rune went dark, eliciting a relived sigh from the massive serpent. _"Such a curious human... very well, since you're going to die soon, I'll indulge you. This is a complex, multi layer seal. If it is disassembled in the incorrect order, anything could happen."_

"I see. And how did the others get trapped by this Genji?" Gina stiffened as Hebi swiftly turned towards her, his dark eyes sparking angrily as he slithered away from the pillar and around the still scientist.

" _Though these people were not warriors, they were still cunning. Despite not knowing how to use ninjutsu, Genji somehow managed to perform a summoning. Normally this would force him to appear in our domain... but somehow the first of us was transported here. After our ancestor tried to return home and failed, he concocted a plan to overthrow the people of this city and spread throughout the world."_

"I see. I'm assuming that Genji discovered this plan?"

" _You'd be correct, Gina Diggers. Genji discovered our plan and warned the rest of the humans before we were fully prepared. Many of us were sealed underground, but their were enough of us that escaped the human's trap to fight back. In the end we drove the humans from their home, but they sealed us within the mountain."_ Hissing softly, Hebi's forked tongue flicked towards the still woman as he drew closer to her. _"Tell me, how much longer are you going to try and distract me?"_ Hissing loudly, the large snake's fang filled maw opened wide before he lunged towards a shadowy corner. The serpent hissed angrily as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Gina turning towards her sister in time to see a blonde haired man fall from the ceiling towards the second serpent. A small blade in his hand glinted dully before it was surrounded by a glowing blue light, the tall blonde expertly throwing the glowing weapon at his target. The small blade penetrating the serpent's skull with ease, the dead reptile crashing and allowing Britanny to struggle free of the dead creature coiled around her. Rising to her feet, the blood covered were-cheetah turning an angry glare towards her sister.

"Did you have a nice conversation? Would you like some more time to find out what his family likes to eat, where they like to go on vacation? You could have helped me get free, sis! And I got blood on me, this'll take forever to come out! This is all your fault, it was your idea to come here!"

"Will you shut up! You both need to get out of here before he... oh shit!" The mystery blonde rolled to the side as Hebi lunged towards him, another small knife sliding into his grip before he flung the weapon towards the massive serpent's snout.

" _Really, a knife? You expect to hurt me with thARGH!"_ Hebi's mocking tone became a cry of pain as it's entire head was engulfed in an explosion.

Turning back towards Gina and Britanny, the mysterious blonde appeared beside Gina in an instant. "You need to leave, now!"

" _SHINOBI!"_ Both Gina and the mystery man turned towards the furious serpent, his massive bulk rising up as he revealed his fang filled maw once more. _"DIE!"_ Hebi's tail lashed out and flung both Gina and her rescuer into the air, Gina's terrified scream splitting the air as she fell into the chasm.

* * *

Brianna's blood froze at the sound of her sister's scream, her head shaking in denial as she watched Gina falling towards the dark abyss at her feet. "NOOOO! GINA!"

Not wasting any time, Naruto leaped into action and ran towards the cliff's edge. As Gina fell out of sight, Naruto leaped into the darkness after her. Bursts of futon chakra flung him towards the falling woman within moments, the shinobi spreading his arms wide before he crashed into the frantic scientist. Naruto gritted his teeth as Gina continued to scream in fear as the pair tumbled out of control . "GINA! GO LIMP, I'VE GOT YOU!"

Despite the terrifying situation, Gina immediately followed the blonde's order. Naruto let out a calm breath as he felt the Gina's muscles grow slack, the shinobi releasing another burst of chakra that righted the wildly tumbling pair. 'Son of a bitch, I guess we're doing something crazy AND stupid after all!' Channelling as much chakra as he could spare around the pair, Naruto held onto his charge tightly as his crashed feet first into the ground. Naruto wondering if this was what Rock Lee felt like when Garra crushed all his muscles, his body screaming in agony as he struggled to disappate the energy from the pair's fall. The stone floor had cratered upon impact, shards of rock and stone dust flying through the air and pelting the duo as the mountain shook violently. After several moments Naruto let out a pain filled groan, a final burst of chakra scattering the dust and debris that had nearly buried the pair. Taking a deep breath as his muscles slowly began to heal, Naruto smiled at Gina as they lay at the bottom of the of the significantly deeper chasm.

"Hey, you ok?" Gina could only stare in awe at the man that had saved her, his wide grin setting off what felt like an entire flock of butterflies in her stomach. After several minutes of silence, Naruto reached up and brushed at a small line of blood as it sluggishly worked it's way down Gina's cheek. "Sorry about that, I thought I used enough chakra to protect us both."

Gina let out a startled squeak of dismay and pushed herself away from the blonde, her cheeks growing warmer at the intimate contact. "I-i-it's f-fine! You saved me, but I d-don't even know your name... wait, you look like the guy that saved my sister! What happened to him?"

Smiling tiredly, Naruto pushed himself to his feet before bowing politely. "Uzumaki Naruto. Jounin level shinobi of Konoha, all around bad ass and combat specialist extraordinaire. Pleased to meet you. And don't worry about him, he'll turn up."

"But... "

"It's fine, really. Trust me. But we really need to get back up there." Naruto said, his voice growing thick with exhaustion as he looked towards the far off cliff Gina had fallen from. "I've got just enough fuel in the tank to get us back up to Brianna, help Brit and walk out of here. Past that, I'm gonna be pretty much useless."

Looking towards the cliff looming overhead, Gina turned towards her rescuer and frowned. "And how do you propose we get back up to my sisters? It'll take hours to climb our way out."

Turning around, Naruto crouched down and looked over his shoulder. "All aboard, I'll have you there in 2 minutes or your money back."

Gina swallowed loudly as she approached the crouching blonde, her arms wrapping securely around his neck. As Naruto's own arms wrapped around her thighs, Gina held back a happy giggle at the feeling of the blonde's hardened muscles. "Ok, I-I'm ready."

"Up we go!"

* * *

Britanny had watched in horror as Gina flew through the air, her sister eyes locking on her own for a moment before she fell into the darkness. As the sound of Gina's scream faded away, Britanny released a furious howl before leaping towards Hebi, her clawed hands lashing out at the massive creature. Hebi cried out in alarm as the were-cat's claws actually penetrated his hide, dark eyes flashing angrily as he attempted to encircle his opponent. But the summon wasn't sneaking up on Britanny, the were-cheetah's superior speed allowing her to keep ahead of the gigantic reptile. Hebi hissed angrily as he continued trying to tag the speedster with his tail, but he had no more luck than before as Britanny managed to stay ahead of the deadly appendage while still managing to score several blows with her surprisingly effective claws. _"Once I catch you, I will crush your bones! And as you lay there dying, I will retrieve your sister's remains so that you may spend your final moments with whatever is left of her!"_

Tears running unashamedly down her cheeks, Britanny wrapped her arms around a stalagmite and tore it free of the stone floor. Raising the piece of stone over her shoulder, Britanny threw the impromptu javalin at the snake's head. A feral grin grew as the stone shard struck Hebi, the massive creature bellowing in pain. "FUCK YOU! YOU KILLED MY SISTER AND I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"

" _ **Uh, sis? Hate to break it to ya, but I'm pretty sure Gina's gonna be fine."**_

Taking a moment to swiftly tap her commbud, Britanny continued zipping around the massive cavern in an attempt to stay ahead of her increasingly angry opponent. "Brianna, what the hell are you talking about?! I just saw Gina fall into a chasm, she said it was a 600 meter drop!"

" _ **Well, Naruto jumped in after her. After what I've seen him do, I'm pretty sure that he'll save her."**_

"What the hell is a Naruto?" Before Brianna could respond the entire mountain shook violently, the speeding were-cheetah loosing her footing and crashing into a wall as she held on to anything solid until finally the mountain ceased moving. "Bri, what just happened?!"

" _ **If I was to make a guess, I'd say Naruto did it."**_

"SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK IS A NARUTO!?" Britanny dove towards the center of the room, a grin appearing as Hebi's tail missed her once again.

" _I will strip the flesh from your bones! Your remains will hang as a reminder to any who would dare to cross us!"_

" _ **You'll find out in a minute, he just dropped off Gina and he's on his way up."**_

"He? What do you mean.. oh shit!" Britanny's attention had wandered while speaking with her sister, allowing Hebi to catch her off guard as his tail slapped her towards the wall. Groaning loudly as she rose to her feet, Britanny glared at the slowly advancing serpent.

"You've put up a valiant effort, but now you will diAIEEEE!" A trio of explosions slammed into Hebi's massive body, the serpent crying out in pain as a dirty, ragged and tired looking Naruto faded into view between a shocked Britanny and the screaming serpent.

"Blah, blah, blah, you're as nutty as Manda. And he died like a little bitch. And to answer your question," The blonde said while looking over his shoulder. "I'm Naruto. _**Futon: Daitoppa**_!"

Hissing angrily, Henbi held out against the techniques gale force wind for a moment before he crashed into the far wall. Groaning in pain, Hebi watched helplessly as the blonde stood over him, a sphere of chakra spinning in the palm of his hand . "C-c-curse you, shinobi..."

"Rasengan!" Naruto's attack slammed squarely into the summon's skull, the serpent's chakra enhanced hide resisting for a moment before giving out. Naruto let out a disgusted groan as he wiped futiley at his blood soaked clothing when his vision blurred, the excessive chakra usage finally catching up with the shinobi. His knees shaking, Naruto tried to grab the wall before his body finally gave out but it was too late, the blonde grimacing as he fell towards the floor until he felt an a strong arm wrapping around his waist. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto gave the concerned were-cheetah a weak grin. "Thanks. Saving you and your sisters is hard work."

"Is Gina ok?" Chuckling softly, Naruto gave Cheetah a shaky thumbs up, the blonde let out a surprised gasp as he was pulled into Britanny's arms and hugged tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you... she drives me nuts sometimes, but she's my sister. If you hadn't been here..." Britanny broke off as she swiped at her tears, the blonde in her arms grinning happily.

"No worries, s'all part of the service. Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi for hire. Rescuing damsels in distress is one of my specialities."

Giggling at his antics, Britanny held the blonde at arms length as she gave him a once over. "And what else do you specialize in? Making an unholy mess?"

A feral grin appeared as Naruto gestured at the dead serpent. "Nope. Kicking ass. I also do windows, for the right price."

"Is it safe to come up now?" Turning towards the cliff, Naruto waved and a pair of clones clambered over the edge. Brianna and Gina peered over the shoulders of each construct, their expressions growing dumbfounded at the carnage laid out before them.

"Whoa..."

"Look what you did, you destroyed the place!" Naruto and Britanny took a moment to glance around the room and finally notice the crushed crystals and debris scattered throughout. Turning towards each other, both Naruto and Britanny gave each other a deadpan stare before giving the same look to the furious woman. Swallowing nervously as the pair continued to stare at her, Gina let out a nervous laugh while she blushed in embarassment. "I mean... I'm so glad you're both ok?"

After several seconds of further staring, Naruto and Britanny looked at each other with similar expressions of acceptance before the shinobi stepped away from the were-cheetah. "Thanks, Brit. I just needed a minute to get my second wind. Alright you two, off the clones."

Gina pouted as she silently complied, the sheepish girl not wanting to say anything else to annoy the hunky blonde anymore than she already had. Brianna, on the other hand, was a little more vocal in her protests.

"Ah, come on! How come I have to get off? It was Gina that was being a jerk!" Her head whipping towards her sister, Gina gave Brianna an evil glare while the young clone merely flashed her a smug victory sign.

"You two can fight later, I need the chakra from one of these guys and the other is going to stay behind to bury this place."

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T!" Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he turned towards an aghast Gina, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at the blonde.

"It's not by choice. Look over there." Gina reluctantly turned in the direction he'd indicated, her eyes blinking at the sight of the so called 'memory stone'. Several glyphs that had once shone brightly had turned dark, while others flickered weakly in the dim light. "That's not a memory device, think of it more like a central node. Whoever made this place was smart, he found a spot that is full of chakra conductive metal so he could easily place seals through the structure and run it all from this central location. When we hit the chasm floor, we destabilized a large portion of those same seals that keep this place in one piece. They're still running for now, that's why we weren't crushed, but it's only a matter of time before they fail. I'd rather control it now when no one is nearby, rather than risking a person's death because we wanted to preserve a piece of history."

As he turned towards the pillar, Britanny and Brianna cleared their throats loudly. Pausing in mid stride, Naruto turned towards the pair of women and arced an eyebrow. Fixing the shinobi with a glare, Brianna motioned meaningfully towards her silent sister while Britanny folded her arms under her breasts. Turning his attention towards Gina, Naruto nearly winced at the hurt expression the contrite girl wore.

"Dammit...Gina?" When the crestfallen blonde turned towards him in acknowledgement, Naruto flashed her a grin while gesturing towards the pillar." Wanna learn about these seals before I deactivate them?"

Gina's expression lit up as she happily skipped towards the shinobi, her sisters giving Naruto a thumbs up for the quick save. As the shinobi and his temporary student began discussing the intricacies of sealing techniques, Britanny turned towards Brianna and gave her a sly smirk. "So, a buff, studly, insanely powerful guy just happened to stumble onto our expedition so he could swoop in and save us. What are the odds?"

"I'd say they're pretty good," Brianna said as she watched both Gina and Naruto animatedly discussing the functions of the various runes adorning the pillar. "When said guy was hired by Dad to keep an eye on us."

* * *

Gina repressed a giggle as she listened to Naruto explain the functions of the seals that were carved into the pillar. 'That was close, I was afraid I'd messed up when he gave me that look. He's perfect! Hot, buff, powerful and smart! Maybe not as smart as me, but he sure knows his stuff when it comes to these seals. But where did he come from? He said Konoha, but I've never heard of it before.'

"HE'S WHAT?" Looking towards her sister, Gina's eyes narrowed at the shocked expression Britanny wore as she pointed towards the crouching blonde.

"Well, that didn't take long." Chuckling softly as he ran his hand along several of the darkened seals, Naruto turned towards the now suspicious woman at his side. "Brianna just told your sister that your dad hired me to watch the three of you."

"Wait, what?! Wait, were you the one that broke in and hacked into my servers?"

Naruto grinned cheekily before turning back to his work. "Yep, that was me. You really need to work on some better security. And thanks for the ramen, that was some good stuff. We'll need to stock up on some more sometime."


	2. Chapter 2

Well, so far most people seem to be enjoying the changes I've made, so here we go with Chapter 2!

* * *

Gina glanced at the rear view mirror and tried to hide a soft smile at the sight of her grinning sister. "Is he still sleeping, Bri?"

"Yep, he's still out like a light. That or he's enjoying the fact that I'm letting him use my lap as a pillow too much to move." Brianna giggled softly as she slowly ran her fingers through the sleeping blonde's hair, her thoughts turning to all the fun 'activities' she planned on introducing the shinobi to over the next few days.

"Well considering what happened, I'd say he deserves a rest." Britanny yawned loudly, her hands resting behind her head as she stared out of the car windows. "All that crazy stuff he did in China probably took a lot out of him, kinda like how some of Mom's techniques can only use a few times before she's wiped out."

Nodding her head slowly, Gina squinted at the dimly lit screen built into the car's dashboard. "Maybe, but I think over six hours of sleep should be enough for him to be able to move under his own power. We're almost home so it's time to wake him up, Brianna."

Grumbling softly at how unfair her sister was being, Brianna gently prodded the sleeping blonde's cheek. "Hey, Naruto, wake up, we're almost home." After several seconds of silence, Brianna poked the blonde once more but the results were the same. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Brianna gently rolled the shinobi on his back and began to curse at what she saw. "Oh shit! Sis, you better step on it, something's wrong with Naruto!"

Stomping down on the accelerator, Gina spared a glance at the rear view mirror. "What is it? What's wrong!?"

Brianna instantly began taking note of the blonde's symptoms, her concern growing stronger by the moment. "Slow pulse, pale skin, how could I have not noticed this before..."

"Brianna, focus!" Tearing her eyes away from the man in her lap, Brianna fearfully met Britanny's determined gaze. "Stop worrying about what you've missed and worry about how we can help him."

"Y-you're right. Thanks, Brit, I needed that. I think... I think we should take him to mom and dad."

"Bring him to mom and dad? We're trying to help Naruto," Gina said, her voice taking on the a sarcastic tone as she brought the Ginamobile down to the street, the car's powerful engine revving loudly as they tore down the deserted road.. "Not get him killed by our overprotective father!"

"Considering Dad hired him to protect us," Brianna retorted angrily. "I have the feeling that he'll be safe! So stop arguing and get us to the mansion!"

Chapter 2

Naruto groaned softly as he awoke to a painful throbbing at the base of his skull. Naruto paused for a moment as he took stock of his situation, old lessons from his youth forcing him to use all of his senses to determine where exactly he was. 'Let's see, it feels like I'm in some kind of liquid, there's a breathing mask on my face, and... am I naked?' Opening his eyes, Naruto looked down and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of his boxers, the blonde turning his attention to the dimly lit room he found himself in. 'Well, how nice of them to leave me my boxers when they put me into the regeneration chamber, those girls are all heart. The last thing I remember was heading back to Atlanta, I must have passed out...' Frowning for a moment, Naruto closed his eyes and took stock of his chakra levels. 'Hmph, chakra exhaustion. I really shouldn't be surprised, I used up a lot of power during that rescue and I'm not an unlimited well of chakra at the moment.'

Taking a moment to study the dimly lit infirmary, Naruto let out a soft bark of laughter at the sight of Brianna asleep at a nearby desk, her head resting peacefully on her arms. Bits and pieces of equipment were strewn across the workspace, not to mention a large amount of empty food wrappers and water bottles. 'Huh, looks like someone was worried about me... how long was I out for?'

Tapping the glass gently, Naruto watched his minder slowly stir, her arm sending several pieces of trash falling to the ground as she slowly began to wake. Blinking tiredly, Brianna turned towards the regeneration chamber and gave the floating blonde a half-lidded grin before closing her eyes once more. Ginning happily, Naruto folded his arms against his bare chest and watched as Brianna's eyes suddenly flew open, the half were-cheetah tripping over her two feet as she tried to stand and race towards the regeneration chamber's controls at the same time. "ACK!" His grin widening even further, Naruto waited patiently as Brianna lay twitching on the ground. Moments later the young clone pushed herself off of the floor, a bright blush staining her cheeks as she glared at the grinning shinobi. "Not. A. Word."

Raising his hands in surrender, Naruto watched as Brianna approached the console at a more sedate pace. After several moments all the fluid in the chamber had been drained away, the glass barrier silently sliding into the floor at Naruto's feet. Pulling the mask from his face, Naruto took a deep breath of the cool air and let out a relived sigh. "Whew, it feels good to breath fresh air again. Thanks for letting me out BriOW!" Naruto let out a strangled yelp as Brianna reached over and slapped him in the back of the head, the shorter man glaring angrily at the cat girl. "Ow! Don't hit a patient! What kind of doctor are you... you..." Naruto's voice trailed of as a pair of arms gently wrapped around him, his head resting against Brianna's breasts as she slowly ran a hand through his damp hair.

"Do you know how scared I've been over the last few days, Naruto? You just appeared out of nowhere, saving my sisters and I and then when we got home you wouldn't wake up. When we couldn't find anything wrong with you we panicked and took you to mom and dad, we didn't know what else to do." Naruto blinked slowly as he listened to Brianna, the blonde's arms wrapping around the half were-cheetah as she sniffled softly. "Dad told us that you should be fine, that all you needed was rest. And now that you're awake I think it's time I thanked you for saving all of us."

Pulling Naruto's head from between her breasts, Naruto's eyes widened as Brianna leaned forward and softly kissed him, her arms wrapping around the stunned man's neck. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he felt another pair of arms wrap around him from behind and pull both of them towards a nearby bed. "And don't forget about me, Naruto-kun."

Breaking the kiss, Naruto looked over his shoulder in surprise and was met by Gina's sultry gaze, the shinobi's mind spinning as the back of his knees hitting a bed and he was pushed onto his back. "What's gotten into the both of...wait a minute, when did you change clothes!?"

Brianna and Gina giggled softly as they stood at the foot of the bed, dressed in matching silk slips. The clinging fabric did absolutely nothing to hide the girl's charms from their prey as both girls leaned forward and slowly crawled towards the frozen shinobi. "Don't you like them, Naruto-kun? We wore them especially for you."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond when a third person at the foot of the bed cleared their throat, the blonde's eyes widening in panic at the sight of a stern looking Theodore Diggers glaring down at him. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Wait, it's not what you... hang on a second... ohhhh, you clever bastard!" Naruto shook his head slowly while both of Theo's daughters rubbing happily against the annoyed shinobi, ignoring the presence of their scowling father. "You're peeking in on my dreams! Does your wife know you're a voyeur?"

Scowling at the blonde's remark, Theo let out an annoyed sigh. "It'd probably just turn her on more, you know how she is."

"Yes, I do. So was there something important you wanted," Naruto said as he wrapped his arms around the giggling women leaning against him. "Or can I get back to my naughty little fantasy?"

"You've been out for three days, the girls are getting... concerned. So I think it's time that you wake up, wouldn't you agree?" When Naruto didn't immediately respond, Theo's head faded away and a flaming skull appeared in it's place.

"Alright, alright! You're such a meddlesome killjoy." Swearing softly, Naruto closed his eyes and the world around him faded away in an instant, a room in Theo's mansion and the owner of said home smirking at the prone blonde once he opened his eyes again.

"So tell me, as their father should I be worried that you're dreaming about my girls?"

"Oh come on," Naruto said with a groan as he slowly sat up in his bed. "We're all single so what's the harm in a little dream like that. Besides, it's not like that would happen in real life. Both of them sharing me, as if." Rising to his feet, Naruto grimaced as he slowly stretched his tense muscles. "How did I end up here anyways?"

"Julia and I were about to retire for the evening when our daughters brought you here, they felt that since you knew us that we may be able to explain what had happened to you. After a through examination I realized that you'd gone past your limits, again."

Arms falling to his sides, Naruto gave Theo a meaningful look before nodding. "It wasn't by choice, things kinda spiralled out of control when I ran into something that I never expected to see again from home. I haven't used that much chakra since... probably since the war."

"Well then maybe it's time to think about retiring, you've done more than enough to earn a break." Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the Arch-Mage, the two men staring at each other for several moments before they laughed out loud.

"Very funny, now where's your wife? I need someone to help me work out my stiff muscles, a little workout with her is just what the doctor ordered." Naruto smirked at the arched eyebrow Theo sported at his choice of words, the blonde turning towards the nearby closet in search of his clothing. "Don't give me that look, I'm fine. Really, I am."

Frowning at the blonde's words, Theo gestured towards the open doorway with a put upon sigh. "She's out practising in the forest in her usual spot. I know you won't listen to me, but I think you really need to take it easy." Naruto fixed the Arch-Mage with a silent stare as he zipped up his long sleeved shirt, his forehead protector hanging loosely from his hand. "Ok, never mind, go ahead an get yourself beaten to a pulp. Just try and keep the collateral damage to a minimum, the last time you let loose I had to regrow half of a forest. But before you go, when do you want to tell the girls that you're alright?"

"I dunno, I was thinking maybe over dinner?"

* * *

Gina growled angrily as she continued typing away at her keyboard, the lines of code flashing before her eyes causing her mood to plummet even further. "When I get my hands on Naruto, I'm making him put everything back the way it was before he got into my systems."

Stifling a giggle, Brianna rose from her seat and looked over Gina's shoulder. "Let's see... forged accounts, security overrides and back doors, surveillance footage... hmmm, he has been a bad boy, hasn't he?"

"I don't know," Gina said as she glanced at her grinning sibling. "I'm withholding my judgement until after I open the video surveillance folder."

While Gina hesitated at opening the folder, Brianna reached over her sister's shoulder and clicked on the icon. Both women blinked in surprise at the sight of a text document. "One text file? What the heck... " Tapping return, Brianna and Gina both giggled softly at the words on the screen.

 _ **AS IF, YOUR DAD WOULD KILL ME. WELL, HE'D AT LEAST TRY :P**_

Gina snorted loudly as she held in her laughter, the young genius smiling as she met her sister's gaze. "Ok, I admit I may have been a little worried. But it looks like Naruto didn't do anything creepy, he was just... through." Signing loudly, Gina's grin faded quickly as her mood became sombre at the thought of the blonde who had saved them. "Bri... d-do you think he'll wake up soon?"

"Oh, sis." Wrapping her arms around Gina, Brianna rested her cheek against the top of sister's head and held on tightly. "Dad said that he'll be fine. When has Dad ever let us down?"

Her hands clinging to her sister's arms, Gina let out a soft bark of laughter. "Never."

"That's right, never. So stop worrying about Naruto, he'll be fine. Now, how about you tell me what's really bugging you?" Gina winced softly at her sister's demanding tone, but before she could respond the phone on Gina's desk started to ring. Both girls shared a look before Brianna released her sister and grabbed the phone. "Hello? Hey Dad, we were just talking about you. Uh huh. Yeah, I think Brit and Strype are around. Dinner, tonight? Yeah, that should work. Fancy, why fancy? Really? Well, I think we can do fancy just this once. Ok, we'll see you then, bye!"

While Brianna placed the receiver in it's cradle, Gina waited until Brianna turned towards her before giving her a questioning look. "I'm guessing that we have plans for dinner tonight?"

"My word, this must by why they call you a genius!" Giggling softly as Gina gave her a soft whack on the arm, Brianna stretched her arms overhead and let out a self satisfied groan.

"Brat. Mom want's us to dress up?"

"Yes she does," Brianna said as she placed a finger against her cheek. "Something about an old family friend showing up, they said he was someone that we should have met years ago but circumstances prevented it. Apparently he has something to do with continuing an old tradition."

Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Gina thoughtfully stroked her chin. "Hmmm, who could it be? Someone from Jade? Or maybe someone Dad worked with when he was younger?"

"All I know is that Dad said to be there for 7. Although there was something strange going on in the background..." Brianna paused for a moment and returned to her terminal, her fingers swiftly typing in a line of commands while she focused on her screen. Gina waited patiently for her sister to finish her task, the young genius remembering how annoyed she would get when someone interrupted her during one of her contemplative moments. Finally after several moments of silence, Brianna let out a triumphant sound before motioning for Grin to join her.

Leaning over her sister's shoulder, Gina's eyes narrowed as she read the information displayed on the screen. "Seismic activity in the area? What's so important about... wait, that can't be right..." Reaching towards the keyboard, Gina typed in several more lines of code before giving her sister a surprised look. "A localized seismic anomaly in the woods surrounding Dad's house? That shouldn't be possible..."

"Yep," Brianna said as she leaned back in her chair. "It wasn't that powerful, so I doubt that there's trouble. But let me ask you this, who else have we met recently that can cause the ground to shake like that?" Gina's eyes narrowed for a moment before she looked at her sister happily. Brianna grinned at Gina before shrugging her shoulders. "It's just a guess, but you have to admit it makes sense."

Gina let out a happy squeal before she turned to the door and raced out of the room. Brianna took her time to slowly rise from her chair, the half were-cheetah stretching languidly as she watched her sister exit the lab. "Sorry, sis, you've only put off our conversation. But for now, I think it's time to raid my closet..."

Several minutes earlier...

Smiling fondly as he made his way deeper into the forest surrounding Theo's home, Naruto felt a brief pang of homesickness at the sight of the trees towering over him. As he passed a tall oak tree the shinobi let his hand slowly caress the bark, the last known Sage of Mount Myōboku reaching out with his senses and humming softly as he sampled the natural energy coursing through the massive tree. 'It's there alright, but it's not as potent as I'm used to. It''ll work for sage mode, but not for my other needs. Dammit.'

Burying his frustration as he turned towards his destination, Naruto grinned at the sight before him in as he entered a large meadow on the other side of the treeline. Leaning against a massive tree, Naruto watched Julia Diggers run through a fast paced kata, the sword in her hand silently slicing through the air as she wove it through a deadly dance. Raising his hands to his mouth, Naruto suppressed a grin as he waited for the right moment to announce his presence. "Oi! You're getting sloppy, kiddo!"

Without missing a beat Julia spun around and sent her sword hurtling towards the shinobi, his grin never leaving his face as the deadly weapon nearly nicked his ear before it sank deeply in the tree at his back. "Naruto, you should still be in bed! Go back to the house, right now!"

"Oh come on," Naruto said as he continued to lean casually against the tree, his blase attitude eliciting a growl from the fiery redhead.. "I'm fine, I'll go stir crazy within the hour if I stay in bed. Let's have a little spar and get the old blood pumping!"

"Oh yeah? Those are big words from an old man who nearly got his ticket punched the other day! Go back inside, gramps!"

"Gramps? Oh it's on now, brat!" Pulling the sword from the tree, Naruto tossed the weapon to it's owner before a kunai slipped into his waiting hand. Breathing deeply, Naruto flared his chakra and disappeared from sight before suddenly appearing in front of Julia. Grimacing at the blonde's speed, Julia raised her sword to parry his blade, sparks flying as she pushed against the small knife. Naruto swung his free hand at Julia's face but she ducked under the blow, her free hand clenching into a fist that she drove into the blonde's stomach, the powerful blow launching the shinobi into the air. Julia thrust her sword in the ground and disappeared, the airborne blonde's eyes widening in surprise as she reappeared in the air over top of him. Her fist glowing brightly for a brief moment, Julia grinned evilly and slammed her fist in the airborne blonde's jaw, launching him back towards the clearing below. The force of Julia's blow sent Naruto's body crashing into the ground, the hard packed earth splintering under the blow and nearly burying the shinobi alive. Julia landed a moment later, calmly sheathed her weapon and approached the sundered ground and the large dust cloud the brief scuffle had kicked up.

"You still alive down there, old timer?" A soft groan from the torn up earth had Julia grinning from ear to ear as she waited for the dust to settle.

"Hate you, hate you so much. I'd kick your ass if I wasn't buried under a ton of dirt at the moment."

"Now don't be like that," Julia said as she crouched down and helped free one of Naruto's arms. "You're just too stubborn to listen to reason. One punch and you're up to your neck in dirt. Remember when you used to run circles around me when I was still in my prime? You just woke up from chakra exhaustion," Julia said while holding out an arm for the half buried blonde. "So sparring is really the last thing you should be thinking about right now."

Grumbling softly about pushy redheads, Naruto reached for the offered hand and was immediately pulled from the ground, the shinobi brushing at the dirt dusting his clothing. "Alright, alright. I'll be a good little boy, do I get a treat if I behave?"

"Dammit, Naruto, you know I'm just worried about you. You're not indestructible, no one is."

Naruto sat heavily on the ground, his hands resting on his knees while he looked up at Julia. "Yeah, well I'm not used to feeling this helpless. Normally it's the other guy that feels this way. Anyways, I told Theo to invite the girls over for dinner so we can all talk about what's happening. It's time they know some of what's really going on around here."

Julia nodded as she sat on the ground beside the blonde, her head resting on his shoulder as she looked into the sky. "Yeah, it's high time they learn about who you really are. So you're going to stick around, are you?"

"Yeah," Naruto said as he looked at Julia out of the corner of his eye. "There's only a few of us left that I know of, so I think it's time that I settle down in one spot, for now at least."

Smiling softly, Julia pushed herself to her feet and let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I've missed having you around, it's just not the same when you disappear. Plus, I can make sure you stay out of trouble."

Turning his gaze towards the standing woman, Naruto glared at her happy expression. "Oi, I wasn't that bad!"

Cocking an eyebrow at his words, Julia folded her arms against her chest and gave the still seated blonde a deadpan stare. "Really? You're really going to try and pull that with me?"

Naruto defiant expression met Julia's steady gaze for several seconds before he turned his attention the grass at his feet. "Ok, fine, I was that bad!. Are you happy now?"

Smirking triumphantly, Julia nodded as she turned towards her home. "Yes, I am. Now get up, you need to get ready for dinner. I'm not letting the girls see you in your dirty training clothes, I'm thinking something... respectable."

"Respectable!? Oi, I'm not a doll for you to dress up, brat!"

Later that evening...

Gina's eyes were locked on her mirror as she turned from side to side, the sight of the slinky black dress clinging to her curves bringing a smile to her lips. "I better be right about who we're going to meet, I don't break out this kind of dress for just anyone you know..."

"That's true, you haven't even worn it for Ryan yet." Gina glared at her mirror's reflection of her sister in a dark blue dress that accentuated her sister's curvy form.

"I'll thank you to not mention that man's name in my presence. Mr. Tabbot is currently in the doghouse and will remain there for the foreseeable future."

"Really? So tell me," Brianna said as she sat down on Gina's bed. "What exactly did Ryan do to earn your ire, sis?"

"If you must know, he was supposed to come with us on our last expedition. But he blew me off at the last moment after saying 'Something important has come up and I gotta bail, Gina.'." Turning away from her mirror, Gina sat beside her younger sister and frowned angrily. "Not to mention how he talks to Seance. His attitude is terrible, he's so full of himself and..."

"And he's not Naruto, right?"

Gina let out an annoyed huff as she lay back on her bed. "I don't know what's happening! I mean I know I get excited when I see a guy that interests me, but Naruto... that's something about him that just draws me towards him. It's like being caught in a star's gravitational pull, it's impossible to resist!"

"Tell me about it," Brianna said as she stood up. "He's a definite 10 on the hot stud-muffin scale and that's not even taking into account the freaking superpowers! Which means that I'm not just going to let him go, you're going to have to beat me fair and square if you want that blonde stud all to yourself."

Chuckling softly, Gina stood up and gave her sister a smirk while extending a hand towards her. "Well then, may the best woman win."

"Oh don't worry about that," Brianna said, her grin becoming positively feral as she firmly clasped hands with her sister. "I will."

"HEY YOU TWO, GET A MOVE ON OR WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Gina glared at Brianna for a moment before pulling her hand free and exiting her room.

Brianna giggled at Gina's annoyed expression for a moment before following her sibling downstairs. As she stepped down the last few steps, the sight of a well dressed Strype triggering a momentary pang of desire that the half were-cheetah ruthlessly quashed, her attention turning to her frowning sister on the Kryn's arm. "Relax Brit, we have plenty of time to get there. Besides, you're not as anxious as Gina is to go and see that blonde stud again."

"Of course I'm not," Britanny said happily, her arms wrapped around an embarrassed looking Strype. "I have my muffin after all! But I do want to eat, I'm starving!"

"I'm actually interested in meeting this Naruto you've told me about, he sounds like an accomplished warrior."

"Strype," Gina said as she grabbed a small purse from the couch. "You have no idea. Alright, let's go!"

* * *

Julia slowly approached the front door, a smirk on her lips as she silently counted down. 'Three, two, one...' Reaching for the doorknob, Julia smirked internally at her daughter's expressions of surprise.

"Mom! How did you know we were here?" Julia grinned mysteriously at Gina's question and motioned for everyone to come inside.

"Never mind that now, I'm sure you've guessed why you're all here tonight?" Both Gina and Brianna looked at each other happily before racing into the house, the sound of their happy giggling reminding Julia of years long past. Turning to Britanny and Strype, Julia gestured towards the dining room. "Let's get going, I don't think we want to miss this."

The trio made their way towards the dining room, their progress halting when they reached the immobile forms of Gina and Brianna in the middle of the hall. Peering over her sister's shoulders, Britanny's eyes narrowed at the sight of Naruto in an expensive looking black suit as he chatted with their father, the burnt orange shirt and navy blue tie he wore looking oddly fitting on the blonde. "Hmmm, he does clean up nicely."

Julia gently manoeuvred everyone into the room, her hands clapping together several times to attract everyone's attention. "Now then, I believe a formal introduction is in order. Girls, Strype, allow me to introduce Uzumaki Naruto, he's an old friend of the family."

As Julia began her introduction Naruto aimed a soft grin at the girls before bowing deeply. "Ladies, it's nice to see you when we're not in the middle of fighting for our lives. And you must be Strype, nice to meet you."

Gina and Brianna looked at each other for a moment before leaping towards the grinning blonde. Naruto cried out in surprise as both women tackled him to the ground, their arms wrapping around the blonde in an instant. Britanny let out an undignified snort at the sight of her sister's happily clinging to the man in their clutches, while Strype merely raised his eyebrows in surprise. As for Julia and Theo...

"Gina! Brianna! I can't believe that either of you would assault a guest like that!" Julia said, her hands resting on her hips as she glared at her daughters. "Why couldn't you have warned me first? I could have gotten that on film! Do you know how long I've been looking for something I can use as blackmail material?"

"Thanks a lot, Brat," Naruto said from under the two excited woman. "Your concern for my well being is so heart warming. But I'd watch what you say, after all there are things that I can tell the girls that will absolutely ruin their image of you."

"Gramps! Not. Another. Word."

Everyone's gaze focused on Julia as she growled out her warning, their mouths dropping as they stared at her. Gina shook her head in denial while Brianna looked as if she was about to cry. "Mom," Gina said, her finger pointing shakily at the man she was currently straddling. "What do you mean, GRAMPS? Please tell me that your joking, he can't be related to us!"

"Julia, behave." Every eye in the room turned towards Theo, the patriarch of the Diggers family shaking his head as he turned towards his daughters. "He's not related to you by blood, Julia just calls him Gramps to annoy him. And I'm sorry to say it actually works, he hates it when she calls him that."

Brianna cocked an eyebrow as she sat up, her hands resting comfortably on Naruto's chest. "But why? I mean he doesn't look that old, so why should he be annoyed when Mom calls him Gramps?"

"Because I am old. Like really, really old." Everyone slowly looked at the the scowling Naruto and blinked slowly. "Nice job, Brat. Way to ease them into the fact that I'm several millennium old. I am so going to get you for this."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before, Old man. Anyways," Julia said while gesturing towards the table. "I think it's time we all sat down and ate. This is going to be an interesting night."

* * *

The mood during dinner was somewhat subdued after Naruto revealed that he was much more than he appeared to be. That is until a group of his clones appeared from the kitchen, the sassy constructs literally gushing over each woman while utilizing several outrageous accents that were guaranteed to make anyone crack a smile. After that everything ran much smoother, with Naruto sharing several humorous stories from his youth with everyone while demolishing several helpings of food.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Theo suggested that they make their way to the library for the inevitable flood of questions for the ancient blonde. While everyone else got comfortable on several couches in the centre of the room, Naruto sat down heavily in a large armchair and let out a relived sigh. "Damn, I must be getting old. I remember when I could fight all day and still be ready for more."

"I expected you to keel over halfway through dinner," Julia said while aiming a scowl at the blonde. "What with just coming out of a coma and all. You need to slow down, you don't have..."

"Julia, stop. I know you were worried, but there's nothing that could have been done to prevent what happened. I think it was a small price to pay, don't you?"

Turning her attention towards her children and husband, Julia turned back towards the blonde and gave him a frosty look. "Oh, you clever bastard. Using my family's well being against me. Alright, I'll admit you're right. This time."

Smirking happily, Naruto turned his attention back towards the girls. "So, I'm guessing that you have questions for me... Gina, are you alright?"

Brianna and Britanny looked at their sister for a moment before they both let out identical groans at the sight of Gina as she sat on the edge of her seat while she quivered in anticipation. "She's fine," Brianna said as she gave Naruto a grin while waving away his concerns. "She just gets like this when she's discovered something new and interesting. I think we should let her start before she wets herself."

Ignoring Gina's indignant shout, Naruto nodded thoughtfully at Brianna's suggestion and gestured towards the now glaring young woman. "Ok, but just to let you know there are some questions I won't fully answer, for now at least. Lay it on me, Gina."

"Ok, first off... are you even human?" Gina winced when her mother and sisters berated her for her lack of tact but a single word from Naruto silenced them all.

"Mostly." All eyes turned towards the grinning blonde, his casual admission swiftly ending the argument. "It's a little more complex than that and I don't know all the details, but I'll tell you a story about man named Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and how he relates to a place known as the Elemental Nations."

And so Naruto told them the tale of the Sage of Six Paths and how he defeated his mother, Princess Kaguya, bringing her enslavement of the world to an end. The blonde felt his grin growing as he told them about how Hagoromo became the first Jinchūriki and how he spread his teachings and the wonders of chakra throughout the world. Gina nearly squealed when she heard that his own clan was one of the direct descendants of the legendary man and many others could also trace their lineage back to the powerful being.

Naruto paused for a moment in his tale, his keen eyes observing everyone as they took a moment to contemplate his words. Brianna and Britanny whispered to each other while sneaking occasional looks at the him, while Strype appeared to be trying to size him up. Theo and Julia shared a look before turning back towards the blonde, both of them nodding at him silently. Gina on the other hand...

"Oh wow, oh wow! There's so much more we need to talk about later on! And I need to get you into my lab so we can run some tests! Oh, can you..."

"Gina, calm down." Turning towards her mother, Gina swallowed loudly at the look on her mother's face. Turning towards Naruto, Gina gave him a bashful look while pressing her fingers together bashfully. "M'sorry, Naruto. I got too excited..."

Laughing loudly, Naruto shook his head while waving off Gina's apology. "Oh stop that, it's alright. Most people look at me like I'm gonna explode or something when they hear crazy stuff like that, it's refreshing to see your reaction. So, that addresses the whole human question, what's next?"

Gina smiled widely and started to say something when a question from Britanny caused her to falter. "Your hand. What happened to it?"

Looking at his right hand, Naruto flexed the bandaged hand for several seconds before replying. "An old friend and I had a disagreement."

"A disagreement? What kind of disagreement ends up with your hand being bandaged up like that?"

Smirking lightly at Britanny's words, Naruto stood up, removed his jacket and rolled his sleeve up just below his elbow. With everyone watching the blonde began unwrapping the upper portion of his bandages, the sight of pale white flesh fused together wit his normal hued skin causing several people to wince. " A heated one. Don't worry, he got a similar treatment from me." Gina and her sister's stared at the heavily bandages limb in silence until Naruto retied the coverings and pulled his sleeve down, the shinobi taking his seat once again. "Come on, stop giving me those looks. It doesn't even hurt, I just cover it up because it looks weird to have one tanned arm and one that's pale white. Come on, there must be something else you lot want to know."

Brianna 's eyes narrowed as she stared at the seated blonde, her intent gaze became slightly unnerving the longer she stared at him "You don't look several thousand years old. How does that happen if you're mostly human?"

Chuckling nervously, Naruto shrugged while wearing a weak grin. "Good genes?" Gina, Britanny and Brianna each gave the shinobi a deadpan stare, their arms folding under their breasts as they stared at the nervous blonde. "Yeah, I didn't think that would work. This answer's gonna take a little while so you better get comfortable. I was originally born in a village named Konohagakure..."

"The village hidden in the leaves?"

Naruto nodded at Gina's translation, a smile appearing as he recalled his homeland. "Konoha was a hidden village created and run by people like me, shinobi. It was probably the most peaceful of all of the Five Hidden Villages, which was strange because we were also one of the most powerful. I guess you could call it peace through superior firepower, ne?"

Naruto ignored the confused expressions he received and continued with his explanation. "Anyways, I was an important member of our armed forces. Not only was I one of our most powerful fighters, but I was quickly becoming an accomplished Seal Master. I was kind of a big thing."

Brianna giggled softly while Gina smirked at the blonde's 'humble' words. "Oh yes, I can see that. Keep going. Though I will want to hear more about what a seal master is later."

"Sure thing, Gina. I was working on a type of stasis array, one that would create a pocket dimension where we could hide civilians or important structures if there was another war. The idea was to create a energy field that pulled a building out of phase with the rest of the world, while a second seal on a person would allow them to enter and leave at will. I thought that I'd finally cracked it and decided that I'd test it out on myself."

Silence met the shinobi's words as everyone levelled an incredulous look at the blonde. Julia was the first to recovery, her lips curing into a large grin. "You tested an unknown ability on yourself that messed with an alternate dimension? Now I know why you never told me this before, this story just keeps getting better and better."

"Yeah, it wasn't exactly a great idea but I was kind of an idiot when i was younger. I still don't know what happened exactly, but the next thing I knew the abandoned apartment building I'd selected for the test was in the middle of an empty meadow and I was dangerously low on chakra. Somehow I'd been pulled into another world, one that was completely uninhabited and I had no idea how to get home. It was a peaceful, idyllic world... I was bored within a month."

Each of the girls giggled loudly, while their parents and Strype merely grinned at the blonde's words. "And so my boredom continued for many, many years. For some reason I didn't need to eat or sleep and as far as I could tell I wasn't ageing anymore. But one day, I came across a group of people that were setting up camp. I was so excited, human contact at last! I entered the camp but everyone I spoke with acted as if I wasn't even there. That's when I realized that part of the seal was still active. I was phased out of reality and no one could see me. I decided to leave when a heavy hand landed on my shoulder, spun me around and jabbed a finger into my chest..."

Flashback

" _You! Who are you?"_ Naruto let out a growl as he was spun around forcefully to face a very tall, muscular woman. Swallowing loudly, the shinobi felt his cheeks grow warm at the sight of her scantily clad body, his hands rising in a gesture of peace.

"Whoa, it's ok, I was just about the leave, we can work this out..." Pausing in mid step, Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the glaring woman. "You can see me. YOU CAN SEE ME!" Racing forward, Naruto wrapped his arms around the startled woman and laughed happily, the tall woman growling angrily as she tried to pry the shinobi off of her. After several seconds of futilely struggling against the shinobi's grip, the muscular woman pulled a large knife from her belt and swung at the clingy blonde. Naruto let out a yelp as he shunshin'ed into a tree, hands waving at the angry woman frantically . "Oi, there's no need to get violent, I was just excited! Can't we talk... oh, right, language barrier." Reaching for his kunai pouch, Naruto pulled a single blade free and showed it to the woman, her eyes tightening as she brandished her weapon at the shinobi. "No, no, just watch." Pointing at the tense woman, Naruto opened his hand and let his weapon fall to the ground, hoping that the woman understood that he wanted her to drop her weapon. But moments after the kunai left his hand, the weapon vanished in a burst of light, the shinobi scratching his head at the strange phenomenon. "That's weird, that's never happenED OH MY SWEET KAMI, STOP ATTACKING ME!"

Growling angrily, the tall woman lunged at Naruto, her weapon biting deeply into the tree as he used another Shunshin to escape. _"A Spirit has entered the camp! To arms, we must defend ourselves!"_ Naruto watched as the surprised woman gestured fearfully towards him, but the other humans surrounding her gave just looked at her in confusion.

"Huh, I get the feeling that they don't believe her... hehehehehe... this is just too perfect." Using shunshin once again, Naruto decided a little payback was in order for the unprovoked attack. Appearing behind the ranting woman, Naruto slapped her ass firmly, her loud squeal of shock bring a smirk to the blonde's face as he disappeared into another tree. "That'll teach you to attack me!"

* * *

"Wait, you never told me any of this before! You told me that your first meeting with the barbarians was a peaceful one," Julia said with a glare. "That they welcomed you with open arms!"

Naruto grinned as he leaned back in his chair. "I lied. I do that from time to time, I blame it on Jiji Sarutobi and his wonderful example on how to handle difficult people."

* * *

Naruto grinned at the sight of the once organized camp as it descended into chaos, his eyes focusing on the woman he'd spanked as she continued barking orders to the rest of the camp. "Hmmm, it looks like they're actually paying attention to what she's saying now. Well, I've had my fun, maybe it's time for me to get a bit more serious."

Running through several hands seals, Naruto landed in front of the woman and slammed his hands onto the ground. Before the tall woman could move an Earth Wall rose from the ground, separating the both Naruto and the tall woman from the rest of the camp. Looking up at the terrified woman, Naruto ignored the panicked cries from the other side of the wall and sat comfortably on the ground. "Well now that we're alone," Naruto said as he looked into the tall woman's fear filled eyes. "Lets see if we can communicate a little." Placing his hand on his chest, Naruto gently tapped himself and smiled at the scared woman. "Naruto. Na-ru-to."

Placing his hands on his knees, Naruto waited patiently for a response. Several minutes of silence passed before the tall woman swallowed nervously, her knees shaking as she sank to the ground. A trembling hand rose up and tapped her breastbone once before she spoke. _"Angia."_

Nodding happily, Naruto picked up a a handful of dirt from the ground and pointed to it expectantly. Angia blinked slowly for a moment before catching on, a smile slowly forming as she caught on to Naruto's intent. " _Earth_." Naruto's hand slapped against the wall surrounding the pair, the barbarian leader thinking for a moment before she gave the seated man a triumphant look. " _Wall_." Smiling happily, Naruto placed his hands on the ground and the earth wall surrounding them receded into the ground, revealing that the villagers had armed themselves and were itching for a fight.

End flashback

"It took a while, but Angia got the others to calm down and lower their weapons once she realized I wasn't a threat. While she was speaking with her people, several others approached that could see me, proving that their leader hadn't lost her mind. Over the next month or so they helped me learn their language and in return I taught them some of my own. I was happier than I'd been in a long time, not just because I'd found people that could see me again but because of what they showed me several months later..."

Flashback

Naruto whistled softly while taking in the sight of the large cavern that Angia had brought him to. "Wow, nice place. The acoustics must be awesome in here."

"Sorry, I no understand ah-coo-sticks..." Laughing softly, Naruto waved off Angia's question and switched to her language, deciding to give the woman a break.

" _Never mind, it was a joke. Why are we here, Angia?"_ Gesturing towards a nearby wall, Naruto grabbed a torch and narrowed his eyes at the sight of hundreds of small holes carved into the rock. Narrowing his eyes as he reached into a hole, Naruto pulled a scroll free and studied it for a moment. _"Huh, scrolls. I'm guessing these are your records?"_

" _Not only that,_ **"** A muscular, middle aged man said as he entered the cave. _"They also contain the history of others that we have met over the years. I am Mattock, Mentor of our tribe. And from the discussions I've had with Angia, I believe that you'll be most interested in the scrolls stored at the top of that wall."_

Looking towards the area that Mattock had pointed out, Naruto grinned and leaped into the air. Hands and feet glowing softly with chakra, Naruto effortlessly ascended the wall within moments. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he reached into a larger hole than the ones at the base of the wall, the curious blonde reaching in and pulling a single scroll free. "What's so special about this..." Blinking slowly, Naruto's eyes widened at the characters adorning the scroll, the lost shinobi pushing off of the wall and landed lightly in front of Angia and Mattock. _"Where did you get this?!"_

" _Many years ago, our clan encountered a group of wanderers during one of our migrations. They spoke a language that we had never heard before, not to mention that they were able to call upon a power that was both frightening and comforting at the same time. They stayed with us for several years before most of them moved on. But several young men had found wives among the clan and decided to stay. One of them was a man named Shiro, my great-great-great grandfather. He tried to teach several of our people how to read his language, but our ancestors were not able to complete their education before a rival tribe attacked us. Each of the visitors sacrificed themselves so that the rest of our clan could escape."_ Angia's hand slid under her cloak for a moment before she presented Naruto with a necklace, the shinobi's eyes widening at the sight of a half dozen black magatama glittering in the torchlight. " _We were told that if we ever encountered someone with my ancestor's name or abilities, they should understand the importance of this necklace. Do you know the name of the path these men followed?"_

Swallowing loudly, Naruto nodded as he reached for the necklace, his hand gently caressing the black beads before he let out a soft chuckle. _"Ninshu... they followed the path of Ninshu."_

End flashback

"Afterwards I realized that everyone who could see me had something in common, they all had an ancestor that had been a follower of Ninshu. I still have no idea why they were even there in the first place, none of their records gave me any kind of clue."

"Wow, and I'm descended from people like you? Oooh, does that mean I can learn how to use chakra like you can, Naruto?

Clearing his throat nervously, Naruto gave the happily bouncing girl an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Gina, but that's just not possible."

"Why not!?"

"Blame him." Naruto jerked his thumb towards a sheepish looking Theo. "While barbarians don't generally use magic, they did mingle with enough races that had enough magical potential that they somehow changed their chakra. One boy I trained was an accomplished katon user, but he couldn't even use chakra to stick to walls or walk on water. A little girl was able to communicate with any animal she met but that was it. Apparently magic can cause random chakra related traits to appear while suppressing others, it's like the ultimate lottery. Play and possibly win a superpower... or get something more mundane like enhanced senses. They're still useful but they're not as cool as blowing stuff up. Your dad's high affinity for magic pretty much finished the job that your ancestors started, wiping out any chance of you getting any of the more destructive abilities. But there's still a spark of chakra inside of you so there is a chance you may develop some kind of ability, someday. Maybe?"

Gina's expression fell before she turned towards her father and pouted angrily. "So I suck at magic and the genes I got from Dad means I suck as at using chakra. Thanks for nothing, Dad."

Both Brianna and Britanny giggled softly at their sister while Theo gave the seated shinobi a dirty look. Strype still had the same thoughtful expression while Julia glared at the blonde. "So, do you have any other things to tell me that were lies, Old Man?"

"Well, there was the time that Angia tried to get me drunk so I'd sleep with her..." Naruto grinned impishly at the shocked looks he received from Julia and her daughters. "Of course she didn't realize I could drink the entire clan under the table, so nothing came of that plan. Other than that, no, everything else is the same as what you were told as a child. After I few years I left the barbarians and wandered the world, becoming a invisible protector of the defenceless and weak and a teacher for those that possessed chakra. Those that could see me were known as the Chosen and many of them rose to greatness throughout Jade's history. Hell, some of them are still spoken of with great reverence and pride even today. But after several thousand years of war, death and disease the number of people still possessing even a spark of chakra had dwindled to a scant few. For the last fifty years or so there haven't been more than a handful of people that could still see me, so I stopped wandering the world and decided to keep a closer eye on what was left of this dying branch of Ninshu. One of them them in particular was a red headed, snot nosed little brat that was positive that she knew everything and anything regarding fighting. Man, she was a real crybaby when I first met her."

Naruto grinned evilly at Julia while her daughters and Strype tried to edge away from the angry mother, her hair slowly rising into the air as a powerful aura of chakra flared up around her. Theo appeared unruffled by the sight, the archmage calmly resting a hand on his wife's thigh. "Dear, you know you're not allowed to kill Naruto while he's inside the house. If you want to maim him you'll have to catch him outside... after he's had a chance to rest."

Naruto chuckled at the 'weak' killing intent Julia sent his way before he continued with his story "Love you too, Brat. I trained Julia when she was younger and she gained the same thing that most of her family inherited from their Ninshu ancestor, super strength. It's not quiet as good as Tusnade-baachan's, but she still packs way more of a punch than she has any right to. Strangely enough she's also a very accomplished sensor, which makes it that much harder to hide from her when I'm running for my life..."

"Wait a minute," Britanny said as she angrily turned towards her mother. "That's how you always knew if we were doing something wrong?! That's cheating!"

"Of course I used it on both you and your sister, Britanny. You were very adventurous children," Julia said as she gave her adopted daughter a smirk. "Even when you were only a few years old you both got into so much trouble. I had to make sure that you weren't getting in over your head somehow, so I cheated a little."

Her arms folding up against her chest, Britanny glared angrily at her mother as she began muttering softly about unfair advantages. Naruto smiled softly at the scene, a sigh passing his lips as he turned to Gina. "You may not have super strength, but there is something about you that is different... we'll figure it out eventually. And before i forget, thank you Gina and Brianna."

Blinking slowly, Gina looked at Brianna in confusion for a moment before she turning back towards Naruto. "Why are you thanking us?"

"Simple," Naruto said happily. "All these years I've tried to find a way to remove the seal that kept me trapped on Jade. I finally realized that my chakra had been changed and was producing some kind of aura that anchored me to Jade. Eventually I figured out how to create a beacon that would pull me back to earth and purge the phase field, but there were two problems. First, the beacon needed to be created with my chakra to be able to lock onto me. And second," Naruto said as he pulled a tri-pronged kunai from an inner pocket of his jacket. "Anything inanimate that came in contact with me for more then a few minutes would be flooded with my chakra and disperse, so any beacon I made would literally fall apart once it got too far from me. So I was effectively stuck on Jade, there was no way to for me to free myself. After your mother was banished from Earth we started travelling together again. She was furious enough that I worried about her safety, so I thought it would be best that I kept an eye on her. One night while we sat around a fire Julia asked me for one of my kunai, it's an old tradition we had during the years I taught her. So I passed her a kunai and waited for it to disappear, but it never did."

"I was just as surprised as you were, Naruto. I dropped the kunai in shock and within moments it vanished like normal. Both of us sat there in silence until the old man here started laughing crazily, the crazy old coot picked me up and started swinging me around like a child! After I clocked him over the head a few times he finally put me down and explained why he was so happy. It looks like your grandpa's spell somehow changed the nature of my chakra, just like Naruto's. It was the first time in thousands of years that the old man finally felt some hope that he could get home... if I ever did. That's why he has to thank the both of you, you're the reason he's even here."

Naruto nodded sagely as he pushed himself out of his chair, the ancient shinobi approaching the seated girls. As he stood in front of them silently, the blonde crouched down and gave the trio a wide smile. "That's when I decided to watch over you, as thanks for helping me get home. Although I can understand if you'd want me to stay somewhere else, I mean I did break into your home and I'm pretty sure I'd be cramping your style..."

"NO!" Naruto's eyes widened as all three girls yelled at him, his head tilting to the side as he studied their expressions.

"No? Hmm, well I guess I could stay in the sub-basement where I setup my workshop so I'm out of the way then..."

Brianna's eyes narrowed as she jabbed a finger at the crouching shinobi, Naruto's eyes crossing as he focused on the finger. "Oh no you don't, you're not living in the basement! That's for storage and lab space. We have extra rooms on the ground floor, if you're staying with us then you're using one of those. And no arguments, our house, our rules!"

Turning towards Julia and Theo, Naruto cocked an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I guess Brianna has spoken. Very well then, I'll be under your care."

Brianna withdrew her finger and gave Naruto a bright smile before leaping at the blonde and bowling him over, her arms happily wrapping around the surprised shinobi. Gina pouted at the missed opportunity while Britanny and Strype tried to contain their laughter. Julia smirked at the pair knowingly while Theo activated his Burning Skull spell, his glowing eyes glaring at the sight of his daughter as she clung to the shinobi. _**"I trust that there won't be any... inappropriate situations while you're staying with my daughters?"**_

"No comment." Theo's burning eyes tightened angrily but his wife gently smacked his arm before glaring at her husband.

"Theo, behave." Grumbling softly, Theo's head returned to normal as he continued to glare at the pinned shinobi.

"You can relax Theo, I'm sure that the girls won't even notice that I'm there."

The next morning...

Gina groaned softly, her arms stretching over her head as she let out a yawn. Glancing at her clock with half lidded eyes, the young genius groaned and pulled her blanket back over her head. "Ugh, too early. Goin' back to... wait, what's that noise?" Pushing herself up on her elbows, Gina listened for several moments before she leaped out of her bed, donned a robe and headed towards the kitchen. The sound of several people moving around the large room was perplexing, since Gina knew Britanny would be in the middle of her early morning run and Brianna liked sleeping in as well. Peeking cautiously through the doorway, Gina placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle at the sight of a trio of Naruto's swiftly preparing ingredients for breakfast. Leaning against the door jam, Gina smiled softly as she spent the next few minutes silently watching the shinobi while he continued to cook.

"You know, you can sit down and still watch me just as easily from the table, Gina." Gina felt her cheeks flush at being caught staring, the cooking blonde letting out a chuckle as she approached the table and quickly sat down.

"How did you know it was me?"

Looking over his shoulder, Naruto grinned cheekily before he turned his attention back to the stove.

"Gina, I've lived in your house for the last three months. I know Britanny is already out doing her morning run while Brianna is still being lazy and sleeping in. I give her another... ten minutes before she wakes up and makes her way here for some food." Whistling softly, one of Naruto's clones hand's his creator a pair of plates and before vanishing in a puff of smoke. The original shinobi transferred the meal he'd prepared to the dishes before presenting the finished product to the seated woman with a flourish. "Breakfast is served."

Gina looked down at the plate in amazement, the sight of real food triggering a powerful hunger in the young woman as she dug into the meal with gusto. "Mmmm! Real food! This is so good, where did you learn to cook?"

"Well, when you don't grow up with parents you kinda have to learn. It's either that or you learn to like premade food, which does get kinda old after a while."

"Your an orphan?" Nodding indifferently, Naruto ignored Gina's contrite expression. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up something like that..."

"Relax, it's alright. You couldn't have known, I never told you I was one. Plus, I've had some time to come to grips with the situation." Giggling softly, Gina gave the blonde a shy look as he gave her a wink. "That's better, now eat your food before it gets cold."

Gina nodded and turned back to her meal just as Brianna shuffled into the kitchen, a hand scratching at her sleep mused hair. "Mmmm, something smells good..."

"Sit, eat." Yawning cutely, Brianna gave Naruto a beatific smile as she followed his instructions, a plate appearing in front of her thanks to a clone within moments of taking her seat.

"Mmm, a man that can cook. I could get used to this." Naruto let out a bark of laughter as he watched both girls dig in while he finished off his own plate, the shinobi rising to his feet depositing his dishes in the sink. "So, any big plans for the day, Naruto?"

Leaning against the counter, Naruto crossed his arms against his chest as he gave the girls a thoughtful look. "Hmmm, I don't have much to move into that room you gave me, so not really? Maybe some light training..."

"Hah, as if! You're on a strict regimen of bed rest, mister! Mom would freak if she knew you were training."

"Ugh, Gina's so mean... fine then, I guess I'm not doing much of anything then."

"Well since you have some free time," Gina said while aiming a sly smile at the frowning blonde. "Maybe you could come with me to my lab? I want to run a few tests, there's so much I could learn from your physiology!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he stared at the eldest Diggers daughter, a hand coming up and stroking his chin thoughtfully. "You're not going to infect me with a parasitic energy source in a bid to take over my body, are you?

"What? No! Where did you get an idea like that?"

"How about using my genetics to create an army of clones to conquer the world?"

Brianna snickered loudly as Gina rose from her seat angrily, a brilliant blush staining her cheeks as she glared at the relaxed shinobi. "What? NO! Where did you getting a crazy idea like that! I just want to take some scans, maybe do a little blood work! You make it sound like I'm some kind of mad scientist hell bent on conquering the world!"

Chuckling nervously, Naruto scratched the back of his head as he gave the indignant woman an apologetic smile. "Sorry, sorry! But the last person I met who called himself a scientist was as insane madman that wanted to learn every shinobi technique in the world. He caused a lot of crazy shit over the years. I guess it's ok, that is if you still want to run your tests?"

Huffing angrily, Gina folded her arms under her breasts and glared at the apologetic man. "Fine. But no more mad scientist jokes! Brianna, do you want to come give me a hand?"

"Did you seriously think I'd pass up a chance like this?" Rising from her seat Brianna approached Naruto and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek after placing her dishes in the sink. "Thanks for breakfast, you've just been selected as head cook from now on."

Eyes widening in surprise, Naruto looked towards Gina for help but the young genius gave the shinobi a smirk while nodding happily. "Yep, I agree. He does need to pull his weight around here and that's exactly how he'll do it."

"I feel like I'm being railroaded here... so this is how everyone else feels when I do it. Huh." Shrugging his shoulders in surrender, Naruto gave the girls a lopsided grin. "Alright, fine. I'll cook for you all. But for now, let's go and get these tests out of the way."

Several hours later

Britanny let out a happy sigh as she exited the elevator into the lower levels of the house. After her morning run, the were-cheetah noticed that everyone was missing so she decided to see what the others had gotten into after a refreshing shower. Just as she was about to enter her sister's lab a frustrated scream froze her in her tracks. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" Blinking in surprise, Britanny poked her head into the open laboratory and watched as Naruto thrust his hands in his pockets, a grinning Brianna sat on a nearby couch and watched as her sister lost her temper.

"Sis, what's wrong?" Pointing at the grinning man, Gina let out a frustrated growl as she turned towards Britanny.

"It's him, he's literally a walking medical impossibility! The average human body temperature is 98.6 degrees. His is 110!"

"So he's running a little warmer, what's the big deal..."

"Brain death occurs at 108 degrees! That's what wrong! Not to mention his skeletal and muscular structures are about ten times denser than normal, which should be impossible! Stop smiling at me like that, Naruto, I still don't know how you're even alive! This should be impossible..."

"I can bend time and space and I'm over 7000 years old... why are you surprised that my body isn't exactly normal?"

"Because you. Are. Human! There are limits to what the human body can withstand, limits that have been around for longer than you've lived!"

"I'm still part alien, so..." Gina's annoyed stare shifted towards furious in a second, the shinobi's mouth closing with an audible click. Britanny held in her laughter as she sat down beside an equally amused Brianna.

Letting out another frustrated scream, Gina glared at the rest of the information she'd discovered. "I don't know whether to swear at you or be happy that you're so unique. You're just so..."

"Frustrating? Yeah, I get that a lot." Stepping up behind the seated scientist, Naruto's hands rested on Gina's shoulders for a moment before he started to massage her stiff muscles.

"Wait, what are you... ooooh, that feels good..." Brianna pouted at the sight of her sister as she enjoyed the massage, a sympathetic Britanny laying a hand on her shoulder.

"There there, it's ok."

"No fair," Brianna said as she gave Gina a mock glare. "I wanted a massage tooOHHhhhh, that does feel good..." Brianna nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a pair of hands firmly kneading her shoulders, a clone of Naruto grinning happily at the content sounds Brianna was making.

"I'm a master of the Kage Bushin, so it's pretty much guaranteed that there's at least one clone wandering around this house at all times." Britanny giggled at the happy expressions her sister's wore, the were-cheetah turning to the grinning clone before she batted her eyelashes at him.

"And what about me?"

"You?" The clone raised an eyebrow in surprise before turning towards his creator and shrugging in surprise. "Considering you have a boyfriend, I kinda thought you'd be pissed if I just went and laid a hand on you like that."

"Well then I think you better stop Gina's massage, if Ryan saw her enjoying that then I bet he'd be pretty steamed!"

Gina groaned softly before cracking an eyelid open and focusing on Britanny. "He's in the doghouse right now ... ooooh yeah, that's the spot. Don't spoil my happy time, sis."

"Hey babe, I know you were bummed that I couldn't make that expedition, how about we head out and catch a mov... what the hell do you think you're doing with my girl, asshole?!" Everyone turned towards the lab entrance as a furious redhead stalked into the room.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the anger rolling off the young man and looked down at a lightly scowling Gina. "Ah, there he is, the boyfriend that's in the doghouse."

"What do you mean, 'in the doghouse' ? And just who the hell do you think you are?"

"Ryan, stop. You barged in here and started to insult Naruto in his own home, you need to apologize right n..."

"Wait, he's living HERE?" Sighing heavily, Gina gave Naruto a pointed look, the shinobi immediately backing away from the angry young woman. Rising from her seat, Gina stalked towards their uninvited guest and angrily jabbed a finger into his chest.

"Whomever we allow to live in our home is OUR business. Not yours, Ryan Tabbot. He's the only reason we're even alive right now! The expedition that I had a few days ago? The one you blew off? We almost died there but Naruto rescued us! He didn't care about his own safety, all he cared about was getting us out of that deathtrap and back home! So yes, as of right now I am reconsidering the whole girlfriend/boyfriend situation with you since you cannot be bothered to be there when I need you. And lets not even get started on how you act and treat others."

Folding his arms petulantly, Ryan gave the only other male a once over before looking back at Gina. "I couldn't get away, there was something important that I had to take care of here. Plus it couldn't have been that bad, the wimp looks fine to me."

"Oh of course," Gina said sarcastically as she planted her clenched fists on her hips. "He looks fine so nothing could have possibly happened. A three day coma is nothing to worry about, it's completely normal. Apologize to Naruto right now or you can see yourself out."

Frowning at her declaration, Ryan looked over Gina's head and glared at a stern faced Naruto for several moments before he let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, I'm sorry. I was out of line."

Naruto waved away Ryan's apology as he approaches the pair. "Don't worry about it, it's fine. I'm going to head up to my room and unpack my stuff. But before I do," Naruto said as he laid his hand on Ryan's shoulder in a friendly manner while focusing a small burst of killing intent at the treasure hunter. "Remember to behave yourself or else we'll have a problem, understood?" Ryan's face quickly grew pale as he unsuccessfully tries to jerk free from Naruto's iron grip. After several seconds of mind numbing terror Ryan finally gave the blonde a shaky nod, the powerful impulse to flee quickly fading as the unknown blonde gave him a friendly smile. "Good! I'll be back soon, I haven't got much stuff to put away in the first place. My clone will make sure that there are no more 'misunderstandings'. Play nice."

"Clone?" Ryan looked over at a grinning Brianna and the man that stood behind her, his eyes widening at the feral grin the clone threw his way. Turning to Gina, Ryan points at the clone while giving the genius a wild eyed stare. "Gina, what's going on here?"

* * *

Naruto frowned thoughtfully at the unfurled scroll laying on his bed. "Hmm, it's weird you know? Being able to have stuff again without worrying about it disappearing... you can stop hiding outside Cheetah, I know you're there."

Grinning at the were-cheetah's frustrated grumbling, Naruto glanced over his shoulder at the sight of Cheetah pouting cutely. "Damn, you've got better hearing that my were-jaguar friends."

"Of course I do, chakra enhanced hearing. Along with some other inherited abilities. It makes it harder to sneak up on me."

Glancing at the nearly bare room, Britanny turned her gaze towards the blonde and narrowed her eyes. "You said you were going to unpack, so where is all your stuff?"

"This is it. Like I said, anything that got too far away from me would disappear, so I don't really have that many worldly possessions left. Where are your sisters?"

"They're reading Ryan the riot act and cluing him in on the basics of what you told us. Nothing about you being older than dirt," Britanny said distractedly while she looked at the nearly empty closet in surprise. "But they did tell him you are not someone to mess around with... are you serious?! This is all you have to wear?"

"Well, yeah." Turning to the closet, Naruto saw the few shirts and pairs of pants he owned hanging there innocently as Britanny pointed at them in horror. "I just said I don't have a lot of stuff anymore. Try and keep up, Cheetah."

"I refuse to accept this, I'm taking you shopping!"

Naruto paled dramatically as he quickly backed away from the grinning woman, his thoughts turning to the memories he received from the clone he'd sent to tail her during her last shopping sprees. "No, really, that's ok! I can go shopping on my own! I don't need your help picking out clothes!"

"Aw, don't you want a cute girl to help you pick out stuff that makes you look irresistible?" Britanny wrapped her arms around one of the struggling blonde's arms, the shinobi's eyes widening in panic as he was hauled from his room and downstairs with ease. While Britanny paused for a moment at the intercom system, Naruto tried to break free once again but it was impossible, the were-cheetah's iron grip was unbreakable. "Bri, Gina, this is a fashion emergency! We need to take Naruto to the mall and get him some new duds, ASAP! Meet me in the garage in five minutes!"

Turning towards the still struggling blonde with a happy grin, Naruto sighed. 'I have a bad feeling about this...'

* * *

Gina giggled at their blonde pack mule as she made sure he didn't hit anyone while manoeuvring through the busy shopping centre, his arms laden with a multitude of bags and boxes. "Oh come on, Naruto, it's not that bad!"

"Not that bad? NOT THAT BAD? We've been here for hours and most of this stuff isn't even mine! I signed on for protection, not manual labour!"

"Aww, is the big, tough super powered bad ass getting tired? I still don't see why I should be scared of you if you can't even handle a few bags and boxes." Naruto growled angrily as he glared at a smirking Ryan, his eyes narrowing at the infuriating redhead.

"You know what, your lucky that the girls even invited you along after the crap you constantly pull so I think you should keep your mouth shut..."

"You actually have a good point, Ryan, thank you for reminding me. Naruto is supposed to be on bed rest and since you're in the doghouse, I'm going to need you to carry all of our things for the rest of the shopping trip."

"Wait, but I...!" Ryan grunted loudly as Naruto swiftly handed the stunned redhead his cargo before he happily patted the wobbling martial artist on the shoulder.

"Hey, thanks a lot! IO take back every mean thing I said about you, I won't even beat you black and blue now for all the crap you've been spewing at me since we met!" Turning towards Gina, Naruto offered the snickering woman his arm. "Milady, shall we be off to our next destination?"

"Hey, sis, Naruto! I found some stuff that'd look great on our new roomie!" Gina waved towards Brianna and Britanny before releasing Naruto's arm, the young scientist racing towards her siblings to look over their find before it was presented to the blonde. Naruto hung back and turned back towards the heavily laden Ryan, his grin growing as the fighter glared at him.

"You're so lucky that my arms aren't free, otherwise I'd kick your scrawny ass."

Glancing at the scowling adventurer, Naruto grinned cheekily at the fuming adventurer. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad. Is the big, bad, martial artist getting tired?" Whistling innocently, Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets before he slowly approached the girls, their faces lighting up as he gave them a grin. "Alright, lay it on me girls."

"Well, I know you like orange but you need a little more variety, Naruto. Some reds, blues, and we know that you look good in black..." Britanny paused for a moment as Brianna handed the blonde a stack of clothes, his eyes brows rising as he noticed a trend.

"Oi, there isn't anything in here that's orange. What gives?"

Well, maybe we could get you a few things with orange in them," Britanny said as she thoughtfully stroked her chin. "But you need to try on everything we give you... deal?"

Naruto's gaze narrowed as he studied the were-cheetah's serious expression for several moments before doing the same to her sister's. Despite their serious expressions, Naruto's highly trained senses were warning him that the girls were up to something. "Alright, I'll bite. But I get to veto anything I don't like, alright?"

"Great! Now, we have just the thing for you to try on next!" Gina said as she pulled a pair of burnt orange speedos from behind her back and presented the scrap of cloth to the wide eyed shinobi. "You need swimwear since we'll be going to the beach next week! We all decided that you'd look amazing in this!"

Taking the brief swimwear in his hands, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he glared at the giggling trio. "Oh, it's on now, girls."

* * *

And there we have it! Read, review, let me know how I did!


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, it's been a while but I hope the wait will have been worth it. So let's jump right in!

* * *

"So why exactly are you trading away your information about... what was it called again?"

Giggling at the confused shinobi riding shotgun with her, Gina gave Naruto a sidelong grin before she turned her attention back to the instruments of her car. "It's called interferometry."

"Yeah, that. So, you're trading her that information...why?"

"Because," Gina said while her car came to a halt in front of a cliff face. "She has something that I need."

"And it never occured to you to just have me come and steal it from her?"

"What? No! Stealing is wrong!" Turning towards the shinobi, Gina spitted the bemused looking Naruto with an angry glare.

"Oh really? Even if the information that was stolen saved lives? Prevented a war? Halted some kind of tragedy?" Naruto watched Gina's resolve as it slowly began to waver. "Things aren't always as black and white as we'd like them to be, Gina. But I'm just the muscle for now, so we'll do it your way."

Gina's expression softened at the shinobi's words, the young scientist taking a moment to lean towards him and soft peck the surprised blonde's cheek. "You're a lot more than just 'the muscle.' And I do appreciate your point of view on the subject, but this is a simple case of supply and demand. Both of us have information we require from each other, making the transaction a beneficial one for all parties included. Plus, I finally get to see Penny's secret beachfront lab!"

Raising his hands before himself in surrender, Naruto gave the young genius a grin before he faded from sight, his laughter echoing throughout the car's cabin at Gina's awed expression. "Alright, you win. Is it still ok for me to surprise your host a little?"

"Whoa... how did you do that?"

"The Transparent Escape Jutsu... one of the many things my godfather taught me during a training trip in my youth. May Kami watch over his perverted soul."

"A perverted god father? I'm getting the feeling that there's an interesting story behind that comment, Naruto-kun."

Raising an invisible eyebrow at the honorific Gina had used, Naruto decided to ignore the addition to his name and let out a soft chuckle. "You could say that, but unless you want Penny to see you talking to thin air I suggest we talk about it later."

Giggling softly as she completed her landing cycle, Gina smoothly exited the vehicle and took a moment to admire the size of the hanger bay. "Wow, now this is a nice setup... maybe I should invest in some shoreline property..."

" _And if you did that, you'd always know that it wasn't originally your idea. I'm in Lab 7-A, second door down the left corridor. Let's get this over with, Gina."_ Frowning at the dismissive tone in Penny's voice, Gina felt her anger slowly grow until a warm hand found it's way to her her lower back.

'Oh, just you wait, Pincer. I think I should record this moment... for posterity.'

Chapter 3

"There you go, Penny. All of my optical interferometry scans for the past year down to the pico-second." Presenting a thumb drive to her rival, Gina tamped down on the urge to grin while she watched Penny briefly scan through her information.

"Thanks, Gina, every scrap of info I can find will help me with my latest experiment. Give me a second to make a copy, I'll put my gravitational influence sphere index in your drive when I'm done." While Penny busied herself with duplicating Gina's data, said rival cocked her head to the side while she observed the third occupant of the small lab.

"Penny... when did you get a harpy?"

"Oh, that's Tweetie." Penny said while turning to face Gina, her expression growing playful. "She's going to be my bodyguard... well, after some training she will be. Speaking of which, I noticed that Britanny isn't with you. I didn't think you were confident enough to come here on your own after the last time we had a 'disagreement'."

"Oh no, everything is fine with Britanny. I just thought that she deserved some time off," Gina said nonchalantly. "And it's giving my new bodyguard a chance to get up to speed."

"New bodyguard? What new bodyguard?"

" **THAT WOULD BE ME."** Penny's eyes widened fearfully, a shrill scream of terror escaping her lips when she heard a deep evil voice whisper into her ear. And when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder, Penny abandoning her haughty attitude and skittered behind a grinning Gina, the terrified woman refusing to take her eyes off of the blonde that slowly faded into view. Naruto's expression grew mischievous as he studied the cowering girl. "You know, I think you should switch to decaf. You're too high strung, Penny."

"W-w-w-w-w-hooo..."

Grinning broadly, Naruto spared a glance at a snickering Gina before he gestured towards himself dramatically. "Who am I? I'm nothing more than a simple sage. The name's Naruto," The blonde said as he lazily thrust his hands into his coat pockets. "And I'm the guy who Gina calls when the shit really hits the fan." Turning towards the furry harpy, Naruto flashed the wide eyed creature a grin before turning back to Penny. "Nice to meet you both."

"He's why Britanny isn't here today," Gina said as she looked over her shoulder, her grin growing quite smug at the sight of her long time rival's terrified expression. "I thought it was best that Naruto get to know just who he may run into while on the job."

Tearing her frantic gaze from Naruto, Penny saw red at the sight of Gina's mocking grin. Her anger skyrocketing once she realized she'd been played, causing Penny to reach for Gina's shorts in an attempt to retaliate. Her body growing tense as she neared her target, Penny prepared to deliver the mother of all wedgies when a large hand clamped firmly around her wrist, immobilized her in an instant. Swallowing loudly, Penny's eyes slowly followed the arm up towards it's owner's face, the sight of the coldly grinning blonde instantly reignited the young woman's fear of him. Penny swallowed thickly when the blonde's expression slowly shifted towards something much more predatory, her body shaking at the oppressive feeling that filled the room. "Now, now. I can't let you do that, Penny. It would be bad for business if you attacked my client like that, I've got to maintain my professional pride and all that crap."

Swallowing loudly, Penny felt herself breaking out in a nervous sweat at the blonde's intense gaze. Nodding jerkily, Penny took a moment to calm down and forced her finger's to slowly uncurl themselves from her nemesis' underwear. "S-s-sorry..."

His friendly smile returning, Naruto released Penny's wrist and gestured towards the Harpy at his back. "S'ok. I'm going to give you two a chance to catch up while I talk with... Tweetie, was it? But remember, I'm always watching. Muahahaha..." Turning towards the still harpy, Naruto threw a wave over his shoulder at the cowering woman as he approached the winged creature.

Rounding on her rival, Penny grabbed Gina's shirt and leaned in. "What the hell is that?! Ultra powerful mage, some kind of superhuman, maybe a..."

"HE," Gina said angrily as she gently removing her rival's hands from her clothing. "Is my FRIEND. He saved my life recently and now he's going to be living with me and the others. The bodyguard thing is just to keep him busy, otherwise he'd get bored. And from what I hear he's even scarier when he's bored." Turning her gaze towards the blonde, Gina giggled softly at the excited expression 'Tweetie' wore, her head nodding rapidly while the shinobi appeared to be regaling her with one of his many adventures. "We talked about our rivalry before we got here and we both agreed on something. It's high time we stop it, not only is it childish but with him around it's very likely that someone will get hurt badly."

Growling angrily at Gina's implication, Penny jabbed a finger towards the blonde when she noticed the expectant look Naruto was aiming towards her, her bravado quickly dying under the sight of his penetrating gaze. Blinking slowly, Penny licked her dry lips and turned her attention back towards a hopeful looking Gina. "You're serious."

"Yes, I am. Think about it for a while, there's no rush. After all," Gina said while looking over her shoulder at a laughing Naruto. "I can wait as long as I need to. Thanks for the info, Penny. Naruto, lets go!"

Nodding at Gina's words, Naruto's hand landed on Tweetie's head and ruffled the laughing harpy's hair for a moment before he headed towards the door, a smiling Gina looping an arm around his own before the pair made their way towards the hanger. The pair were silent until they boarded Gina's car and took off, both of them focusing on the blue sky stretching out before them for several minutes before they both let out loud guffaws of laughter. "Oh, my, GOD! That was priceless, Naruto, she looked like she was going to piss her pants!"

Chuckling softly, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and let out a soft yawn. "You're right, that was fun. Do you really think she'll bury the hatchet with you like you wanted?"

"I don't know," Gina said, her expression growing contemplative as she busied herself with turning her car back towards home. "But it's worth a shot. Our rivalry wasn't so bad at first, but it's been growing more and more vicious as of late, I'm ashamed to say."

Nodding sagely at her words, Naruto folded his hands behind his head and let out a yawn. "Rivalries will do that to you, I can remember that my own rivalry with Sasuke wasn't exactly normal."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well," Naruto said while he turned his head towards Gina and grinned cheekily. "It's not normal to try and kill your rival multiple times, is it? But don't worry, the teme got over his emo-ness and we worked it out in the end. But never mind my messed up childhood, where exactly are we headed today? You said something about some kind of interdimensional beach?"

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but grin while he leaned against the wall of Gina's garage, the ancient shinobi taking in the sight of the Diggers and their friends as they prepared for their trip. Glancing to his left, Naruto raised a hand in greeting towards Theo and Julia as they exited the elevator along with a slim young man. Glancing to the right, the shinobi stifled a chuckle at the sight of a scowling Strype, the shanghaied Prince trying to look dignified while also attempting to escape from from his perch on Britanny's shoulder. Said were-cheetah ignored her boyfriend's futile struggles as she continued to effortlessly balance him over her shoulder during a conversation between herself and a snickering Genn. Turning back towards the centre of the room, Naruto took a moment to himself before he pushed himself off of the wall and approached the organizer of the day's interdimesional jaunt. Shaking his head as he approached the oblivious woman, Naruto silently leaned over her shoulder and watched as she consulted a fairly extensive list.

"Ok, we've got the food, the games are packed along with towels, plenty of sunscreen..." Gina voice trailed off as a tanned hand plucked the tablet from her hands. Gina let out a cute growl while she spun around to face the shinobi, her eyes flashing dangerously as she reached for the device in his hands. "Naruto! Give that back!"

"You're supposed to be relaxing, Gina, not planning an expedition." Waving the tablet before the young scientist in a teasing manner, Naruto grinned while Gina continued in her fruitless attempts to grab the device from him.

Her eyes narrowing in irritation, Gina gave up on retrieving the device and settled on jabbing a finger into the elder blonde's chest. "And while you're saying that I should relax, I know what would happen if we forgot something important, like forgetting to bring the food. Remember, I've seen how much you eat, mister."

"Hey, it's not easy being a shinobi. Chakra burns a lot of calories," Naruto said with an easy grin. "I need to eat a lot to make up for it."

"Hmph, whatever. Now give me my tablet back, please. I'm going to need it to control the light gate." Naruto looked at the small device for a moment before raising it over his head, his grin shifting to a frown when Gina's aggravated expression suddenly turned gleeful. Before he could react, Naruto felt someone leaping on his back and wrap her arms around him, his face growing warm at the feeling of a large pair of breasts when a large pair of breasts pressed tightly against his back, causing the shinobi's eyes to widen in shock. Gina darted forward, capitalizing on the blonde's distraction and rescued her tablet from his clutches. The grinning scientist danced away from the shinobi's attempts to catch her before she ran towards her parents.

"Naruto, just the man I was looking for! My walker's on the fritz,": Brianna said while she rubbed against the blonde in a sensuous manner. "So you've been elected as my mode of transportation for the day!"

"Nani!? I am not a pack mule!" Ignoring the blonde's weak protests, Brianna rubbed her cheek against the shorter blonde while her arms and legs easily wrapping around the shinobi. Grumbling softly, Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to extradite himself from the the comfortable clutches of the clingy woman when an idea struck him. Chuckling darkly, Naruto's hands flashed through several hand seals, the grinning blonde disappearing in a puff of smoke. The sudden lose of the tall shinobi nearly tipped Brianna over but the half were-cheetah managed to catch herself in time. Preparing herself, Brianna was ready to give the blonde a piece of her mind when the smoke cleared and her anger was washed away in an instant. Squealing loudly, Brianna crouched down and stared at a small fox kit sitting at her feet. Brianna scooped up the cuddly animal with a happy giggle and and held him out towards Gina and her parents.

"Gina, look! He can transform into a cute little fox!" Giggling at the transformed blonde in her arms, Brianna let the shinobi nuzzle against her breasts for a few moments before placing him on her shoulder. "Well, I guess I can be your transportation for the day instead. You're lucky you're so cute in both forms, Naruto."

Grumbling softly, Gina angrily tapped her fingers against her tablet while she turned away from the adorable scene. "Lucky brat..."

"Hey, beautiful, I'm here! Now we can get this party started!" Sparing a glance for the arrival of her on again/off again boyfriend, Gina gave the redhead a noncommittal grunt and turned her attention towards the device in her hand.

"Yeah, nice to see you, Ryan. I'm in the middle of something right now, how about you go and mingle with the others?" Turning away from the sputtering fighter, Ryan stared in surprise as he was blown off by the young inventor.

"Uh.. sure, no problem. Geez, it must be pretty important stuff if you can't even stay and talk with me for a few minutes." Folding his arms against his chest, Ryan glanced around the room before he spotted the only other person that appeared to be alone. As he approached the giggling woman, the treasure hunter cocked at the sight of the small fox riding on her shoulder. "Hey, Bri! Is that a new pet or something?"

Brianna spared a glance at the transformed shinobi, the sight of his curled back lips causing the young woman to grin broadly. "Something like that. I wouldn't get too close, Ryan, I get the feeling that he doesn't like you very much."

"Oh come on, he's just a stupid little fox, what could possibly happen... YEOWCH! LEGGO, YA LITTLE MONSTER!" Brianna stared in wide eyed shock when Naruto leaped towards the redhead, his small jaws clamping down painfully on Ryan's outstretched fingers. The treasure hunter's pain filed cries attracting the attention of everyone within the garage, his free hand desperately trying to pull the vicious animal off of his hand. Growling loudly, Naruto bit down harder on the captured digits, the resulting pain filled cry of his victim eliciting a wheezing laugh from the transformed blonde. "WHY YOU LITTLE PICE OF SHIT!" Reaching for the scruff of his neck, Naruto instantly released Ryan's fingers and waited for Ryan to fling him across the room.

"Ryan! Drop him. NOW." Pausing in mid throw, Ryan and Naruto both craned their necks backwards and stared at the sight of a furious Gina, her cold glare focusing directly on her erstwhile boyfriend. Swallowing loudly, Ryan immediately dropped the shinobi on the ground, his eyes tightening angrily when he saw the small animal scamper towards his furious girlfriend. Crouching down, Gina never took her eyes off of the redhead while she pulled the shinobi protectively into her arms. "I can't believe you were going to throw him, Ryan!"

"But Gina, he bit me! What if he has rabies or something?"

"Oh please," Gina said while she gently stroked the disguised shinobi's head. "As if I'd let that happen. This little guy is as healthy as an ox, I'm actually more concerned that he'll catch something from you after gnawing on your fingers. After all, who knows where they've been recently." Ignoring the redhead's soft grumbling, Gina grinned happily as she placed Naruto on the ground and pointed towards the interior of the house. "Now go find Naruto before we leave him behind. And no destroying the furniture while we're gone, got it?"

Yipping softly, Naruto disappeared around the corner while Ryan gave Gina a bemused look. "Really? Do you really think a stupid little fox like that can..."

"Oi, don't diss the fox," Naruto said while he rounded the corner. "He's much smarter than you think he is."

Scoffing softly, Ryan took a few steps towards Gina and placed his arm around her waist. "Well, look who showed up. How's it going, Shorty?"

Cocking an eyebrow at the insult, Naruto admitted to himself that he was a little shorter than the fighter but he wasn't that short. "Not bad, Tomato head. Hey, what happened to your finger? You may want to get that looked at, it looks pretty bad."

Grumbling softly, Ryan reluctantly pulled away from Gina and stormed off in the direction of the medical lab. Chuckling softly, Naruto gave the departing adult a jaunty wave before he turned towards Gina with a grin. "So, when do we leave?"

While Gina and Brianna approached the grinning blonde, Theo glanced at his grinning wife from the corner of his eye. "I can see what you meant about him being a trickster. What else can he do?"

"It would be better to say what can't he do," Julia said as she turned to her husband and kissed his cheek. "And as long as you stay on his good side you shouldn't have to worry about ever becoming his victim."

Nodding sagely at his wife's words, Theo turned towards his student, Seance. "Student, make sure to never provoke that man."

Swallowing softly, Seance nodded quickly at his teacher's words while he studied the whiskered blonde. "Yes, Sir."

Eventually...

Grinning broadly at the jungle spreading out before him, Naruto let out an impressed whistle. "Wow, this place is amazing. Nice job, Gina."

Nodding towards the shinobi in thanks, Gina turned towards the rest of her friends and family and spread her arms wide. "Welcome to paradise! My scanners show that while this jungle is full of wildlife, it's mostly birds and other little critters like butterflies."

"Well then," Britanny said as she turned towards the east with a resigned Strype still resting on her shoulder. "I'll just take my Muffin with me towards that nice looking cove you showed me earlier, Gina. That means the east is off limits, got it?"

"Sure thing sweetie, and I must say I'm glad to see that you took my advice on dealing with a reluctant suitor." Julia grinned cheekily at the annoyed look Strype sent her way before Cheetah headed towards the cove. Theo merely shook his head in sympathy before he turned towards his remaining daughters. "I think your mother and I will stay by your dimensional door for now."

"Ok, we're heading to the north beach! Let's move, troops!"

"And remember Ryan," Theo said as his head changed into a flaming skull. _**"I'll be right here if there is any trouble."**_

"Stop that!" Smacking her husband in the arm, Julia gave the wide eyed redhead a apologetic grin before she approached him. "I'm sorry about that, Theo gets a little defensive whenever the girls are around a boy."

"Well then why isn't he doing the same for Naruto?"

Turning to face her one time sensei, Julia stopped herself from giggling at the sight of Theo and Naruto as they stared at one another for several long seconds before they offered each other a sharp nod of respect. "It's simple really. He saved their lives and Theo respects him because of that. Which means that he trusts the girls to be on their own with him."

As she returned to her husband's side, Julia grinned happily as she watched the small group enter the dense foliage before placing a soft kiss on her husband's cheek. "And now that their gone, you can stop hiding in that tree, sensei."

Grumbling softly as he silently dropped to the jungle floor, Naruto gave his old student a annoyed look. "Damned sensor abilities... why the hell couldn't you just get super strength like the rest of your family, huh?"

"Beats me," Julia said as she wrapped a arm around her husband's waist happily. "Maybe it's because my dad's a Spirit Monk?"

Frowning thoughtfully, Naruto rubbed his chin for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and gave the pair a thoughtful look. "Maybe. So Theo, do you know where we are?"

Turning his attention towards the ancient shinobi, Theo gave the young looking blonde an enigmatic grin before he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders. "Maybe."

"I knew it," Naruto said as he slowly turned and made a circuit of the small clearing. "You didn't want to rain on Gina's parade. You old softie."

"Old? Me? You're the one pushing seven thousand, 'old man'."

Nodding ruefully at the arch-mage's point, Naruto turned to the west and let out a deep breath. "Well then, I'm gonna head off this way for a bit. There's something that I need to do and this place, wherever it is, is a perfect spot for it."

Theo peeked over the rims of his sunglasses at the smiling blonde. "And what exactly is 'it'?"

"Nothing much, really." Naruto said as he threw a wave over his shoulder. "Just giving an old friend a wake up call."

* * *

Britanny let out an annoyed huff as she watched Strype disappear into the dense brush. "Next time, check to make sure you grabbed the right drink before you go crossing dimensions, Cheetah. Now I have to wait for Muffin to come back."

After several minutes of silence, Britanny was about to go and see if she could find her missing suitor when she heard a branch snap in the nearby jungle. Turning towards the dense foliage, Britanny's eyes narrowed as several large plants began to weakly shake. 'That's not a bird... nothing dangerous my furry ass, sis.' Rising to her feet in an instant, Britanny raced towards the shadowy intruder and leaped into the air, her eyes tightening at the size of her opponent. 'Damn, he's big! Well, I better hit him hard and fast!'

Moments before she struck her unsuspecting prey, the tall being turned around and stared at the oncoming were-cheetah in total surprise. "BritannACK!" Her arm wrapping around her opponent's throat, Britanny squeezed tightly until she felt a hand rapidly tapping her forearm. "GACK! Lemme go, Brit! It's me, Gargh..."

Growling loudly, Britanny continued to squeeze her foe's neck tightly until he mind caught up with the the words she'd heard him utter. "GAR?! Oh crap, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you... wait a minute, what are you even doing here?"

Coughing lightly, Gar shook off the concerned look that Britanny was giving him. "It's ok, Britanny, no harm done. It's been so long since I saw you last, how have you been? Are you here on your own?"

"I've been really, good, Gar. Gina found this place while she was running some kind of scan," Britanny said while she gave her friend a happy smile. "So we decided to invite some friends and family to come and have a little fun. How about you, are you here on your own?"

Gar smile grew brighter as he rose to his feet and turned towards the dense jungle. "Actually, this is perfect timing, you'll get the chance to meet the rest of my group. HEY, EVERYONE! OVER HERE!"

After several moments of silence, Britanny's eyes widened in surprise as several were-cats exited the jungle, each of them staring in wonder at the blushing were-cheetah standing silently at Gar's side. "Everyone? This is the gorgeous were-cheetah I told you all about. Britanny, these are my friends! First, we have our field commander, Onoli."

Inclining his head respectfully, Onoli gave the shocked Britanny a friendly smile. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Diggers."

"And to your right is Tirga. He's our expert tracker, tactician and when the situation calls for a more, "Gar paused for a moment in his explanation, the tall jagwere apparently looking for the right phrase to describe his companion. "Well, I guess you could say that when we need a more subtle approach he can fill in as a capable rogue."

Bowing floridly, Tirga gave the blushing were-cheetah a roguish grin. "Charmed."

Giving the suave were-lion a glare for his flirting, Gar turned to his right and slapped a hand against the final were-cat's shoulder in a friendly manner. "And last but not least, this is Thorpan. He's our mechanical and magical engineer, he invented the device that allowed us to gate her in the first place."

Smiling in a friendly manner, Thorpan gave Britanny a brief nod in greeting. "The honour is mine, Miss Diggers."

Blushing brightly, Britanny nervously wrapped her tail around her leg as she weathered the interested looks from each were-cat. 'They're looking at me like how I look at tuna... that can't be good.'

But before anyone could say a word another were-cat exited the brush, the sight of the petite female jagwere bringing a look of surprise to Britanny's features. "Oh GAR..." Wincing at the newest arrival's tone, Gar's swallowed loudly before he turned to face the newest arrival. "I could have sworn that you forgot to introduce me! But I must be imagining things, after all who would dare forget to introduce their own sister to a friend of theirs?"

Laughing nervously, Gar slowly backed away from the petite jagwere and hid behind a wide eyed Britanny. "U-uh, hi! Sheila! I'm sorry, I was a little caught up in the moment and..."

Folding her slim arms against her chest, Sheila arched an eyebrow while staring at her brother angrily. "And...?"

"And... I'm sorry?"

Eyes narrowing in irritation, Sheila breezed past her brother and grabbed Britanny's wrist, dragging the silent were-cheetah away. "I'll accept the apology, this time. I'm going to borrow your friend for a while, so why don't you boys go and have some fun on your own for a while, ok?"

Within seconds both women had left the clearing, leaving the remaining members of the Edge guard staring at each other. "Gar," Tirga said while approaching the taller jagwere. "You really need to reign in your sister more often."

"Me? If she needs to be reigned in so badly," Gar said angrily while gesturing towards the scowling were-tiger. "How come you can't do it? Or is there some other reason why you would need me to stick up for you?" Growling angrily, Tirga turned away from Gar's angry glare and disappeared into the brush in silence.. "That's what I thought. Whenever it comes to Sheila, he always passes responsibility to someone else."

Thorpan and Onoli shared a look before they burst out in laughter, both of them shaking their heads at the antics of their comrades. "And we all know exactly why he does so. But I must say that Ms. Diggers was exactly as you described her, Gar," Onoli said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Beautiful, exotic, one of a kind. But I seem to remember you also stating that she was currently seeing someone."

"Things can change, Onoli."

"Be that as it may," Thorpan said while he turned in the direction Tirga had disappeared. "There are some women that refuse to change no matter what offers they receive. Take your sister for example, despite many offers from multiple men she still remains true to this mystery man that she refuses to tell us about."

Grunting softly in agreement, Gar turned towards the direction his sister and Britanny had taken while his friends quietly left him to his own devices. "There's a good reason that my sister doesn't talk about him though. After all," Gar said as he began walking towards the eastern cove. "How do you explain a man that most people can't see?"

Meanwhile...

"Hmmm, This looks like a good spot... GUYS! OVER HERE!" Waving happily at the rest of the gang, Gina shared a annoyed look with Brianna before she pointed towards a grinning Naruto. "Hey, Naruto! Where's that swimsuit we bought you last week?"

Pausing in mid-stride, Naruto looked at his board shorts and tank top for a moment before he grinned mischievously. "Veto power, remember?"

Grumbling softly about prudish, ancient blonde's, Gina gestured towards the majestic beach that stretched out behind her. "Fine then, you come help setup the volleyball net and gear while Genn and I get started on lunch." Chuckling softly, Naruto approached the lightly scowling Gina and stared at her for a moment. "What?"

Reaching towards the young inventor's ever present hat, Naruto plucked the headgear from Gina's head and ruffled her hair affectionately. "You know, you're really cute when you get annoyed like that." Plunking the battered fedora back on it's owner's head, Naruto chuckled loudly as he made his way towards the indicated area for their camp.

Giggling softly at Gina's expression, Brianna used her elbow to nudge her blushing sister. "Sis, maybe you should take a dip in the ocean to cool off?" Brianna said while studying the shinobi while he busied himself with setting up their camp.

"And leave you alone with him? As if! Ryan, Seance, shake a leg and give him a hand or you're not getting fed!" Grinning at the sight of both men scurrying towards the beach, Brianna slung her arm around Gina's neck.

"You just did that so you could check out their asses, didn't you?"

Giggling softly, Gina pushed her sister towards the net while she made her way towards an umbrella that Naruto had setup first. Crouching down beside a large cooler, Gina paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder, the sight of a grinning Genn meeting her gaze. "What are you grinning about?"

"Nothing really," Genn said as she knelt down beside her friend. "I was just wondering how hard it would be for me to get Naruto to agree to be my 'snack' for the day. I wonder what his fantasy would be...""

Blushing hotly as she pulled out several baguettes, Gina refused to meet the raksasha's gaze as she kept herself busy. "Genn, stop trying to seduce Naruto."

Turning away from the sight of a laughing Naruto, Genn pouted at his friend's annoyed expression. "Are you still angry about how I reacted when we met?"

Flashback

"And this is our other house guest, Genn!" Smiling broadly at the wide eyed stare Genn was giving the ancient shinobi, Gina turned towards a giggling Brianna and winked. "And Genn, this is our newest friend, Uzumaki Naru...GENN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! STOP THAT! DAMMIT, GENN, HANDS OFF!"

End flashback

"I said I was sorry. His aura is just so... powerful. Addictive. It was like looking at a full course meal after a week of fasting, I literally couldn't help myself."

Giggling softly, Gina gently patted Genn's shoulder while she watched Naruto face off against her sister and the boys. "It's ok, Brianna and I understand exactly how you feel. There's something about him that's just so irresistible."

Humming softly in thought, Genn took a moment to look at Gina before pulling a battle of water from the cooler. Sipping the cold beverage, Genn leered at the topic of their conversation for a moment before she gave Gina a wide grin. "So, have you seen him in the buff yet?"

"No," Gina growled angrily. "He's like a freaking ghost around the house. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a clone editing the security footage whenever he's around a security camera. Apparently, shinobi are very paranoid."

Pausing in mid sip, Genn cocked an eyebrow and turned towards the inventor. "Clone? As in a copy of himself? Now that is interesting, I wonder what he can do with them..."

* * *

Snickering under his breath, Naruto turned his full attention towards the sceptical look Ryan had aimed at him. "Three on one? Do you really want to lose that badly, whiskers?"

Cocking an eyebrow at the redhead's smug tone of voice, Naruto lazily spun the volleyball on the tip of his finger. "Lose? No, I just wanted to give you a chance to win. How about you, Brianna? Any complaints?"

Scoffing lightly, Brianna folded her arms against her chest before she shook her head. "Hell no. I've seen you move and I'm pretty sure anyone you picked as a teammate would just get in the way. Don't worry about the stud, Ryan, he can take care of himself. Besides," Brianna said with a salacious smirk. "This'll give me a chance to keep my eye on you. Now lose the shirt before you get it dirty, stud."

Naruto's good cheer evaporated in an instant, a muffled curse passing his lips. "Brianna, I really don't think that's a good idea."

Smirking at the recalcitrant blonde, Ryan leaned over and elbowed Seance in the ribs softly. "Feh, I bet he's an even bigger pipsqueak than you, magic man."

Naruto glared at the still smirking fighter while Brianna glared at her sister's boyfriend. "Ryan, what the hell is your problem, I was just teasing him. If he doesn't want to take off the shirt then he doesn't have too."

"The reason I didn't want to remove my shirt isn't because I'm embarrassed," Naruto said softly while he pulled his shirt over his head, his action revealing a large network of scars stretching across his toned body. "It was to prevent an awkward situations like this. After all, most people that see these 'souvenirs' of mine are a little unnerved by how many I've collected over the years."

Tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, Brianna turned to Ryan and angrily slapped him across the back of the head. "Idiot! Are you ever going to learn to keep your mouth shut? Naruto," Brianna said softly as she approached the still blonde. "You can put your shirt back on."

"Does it bother you to see them?" Naruto said softly as he gestured towards himself, the half were-cheetah taking a moment to look at the marks littering his torso before she shook her head. "Then do I really need to cover them up? It is getting pretty hot out here."

Licking her dry lips, Brianna nodded at the blonde's words. "Yeah, you're right. Hey, how about you play against Seance and Ryan for a bit? I need to get a drink and talk to Gina about something. I'll be back a little later, ok, Stud?"

Laughing softly at the nickname he'd been saddled with, Naruto nodded and turned towards his opponents, a feral grin stretching across his lips. "Sounds like a plan. OI! YOU TWO! Get ready to lose!"

Elsewhere...

Giggling happily, Sheila savagely tore into the sandwich Britanny had offered her when she'd offered to keep the were-cheetah company. "This is so good! Thanks a lot for the food, Britanny, this really hits the spot!"

Smiling softly, Britanny shook her head while she took the time to rummage around her picnic basket. "No problem,Sheila. Think of it as a thank you for getting me out of there. Your friends seemed really nice, but..."

Pausing mid-bite, Sheila flashed the were-cheetah a friendly grin. "They came on too strong, right?"

"Exactly. They're the first male were-cat's I've seen other than Gar and I'll admit that those guys were fine..."

Nodding slowly, Sheila gave the were-cheetah a knowing look. "But you already have someone that you're in love with."

Smiling fondly, Britanny nodded at her newest friend's words. "Yeah, I love Strype, I wouldn't trade him for anybody."

"Well said."

Nodding happily, Britanny placed her hands in her lap while she gave Sheila a questioning glance. "You know, I have to ask, who are you guys? And do you know anything about this place?"

Pausing in mid-bite, Sheila gave Britanny a strange look for a moment. "You seriously don't know where you are? This is the Retreat, a separate dimension created thousands of years ago as a home for magical beings. Dragons, Giants, Were-folk, Elves and pretty much any other type pf magical being you can think of live here." Looking sadly at the final bite of her sandwich, Sheila popped the morsel in her mouth before she continued her explanation. "As for me and the guys, we're members of the Edge Guard. We protect both the Retreat and Jade from external and internal threats, we also go on adventures between jobs."

"Hmmm, that sounds similar to what my sisters and I do! Gina's an explorer and archeologist while Brianna and I are there to make sure that she doesn't get in over her head. Still hungry?" Giggling at Sheila's earnest nod, Britanny reached into the basket at her side and pulled out a small container. "I can't give you too much more since I'm supposed to be sharing this with Strype, but you can have this too."

Eyes lighting up, Sheila accepted the small container and dug in immediately. Letting out a sound of approval, Sheila paused for a moment as she suddenly studied the the container in her hands. "Britanny... this food, where did you get it?"

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"No way, it's delicious! You have to tell me how you made it!"

"Sorry to say I didn't make that. One of mom's old friends is staying with us and he helped me prepare some of the food I brought. I wanted to make it all myself, but Naruto wouldn't give in so we compromised and worked together... Sheila?" Blinking slowly, Britanny watched as the container of food fell from her friend's nerveless fingers, a look of surprise appearing on Sheila's features.

Swallowing loudly, Sheila slowly turned her gaze towards her newest friend and slowly licked her lips. "D-did you just say Naruto? He wouldn't happen to be a little over six feet tall? Blonde hair, whisker marks?"

"Yeah, that's him! Do you know him?"

Turning away from the grinning were-cheetah, Sheila's eyes tightened while eyed the tropical forest with an ecstatic grin. "You could say that. He wouldn't happen to be hanging around here somewhere, would he?"

Narrowing her eyes at the happy shift in Sheila's tone of voice, Britanny stared the jagwere for a moment before answering. "Yeah... he's probably off with my sister's at the beach to the north. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. It's been a while since I saw him last, I think I should find him and say hello." Rising to her feet, Sheila bowed to Britanny before she turned towards the jungle. "Thanks for the food, Britanny! Look me up the next time your on Jade and we'll hang out!"

Watching as Sheila disappeared into the brush, Britanny couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the petite lycanthrope. "Maybe I should go and find Naruto and warn him? Nah! He'll be fine!"

Sometime later...

Breathing deeply, Naruto smiled as he felt the eddies of natural energy surround him, his chakra effortlessly merging with the abundant energy in the air. Falling into a light trance, the ancient blonde entered his mind scape and stared at the large seal array surrounding a massive crystalline structure. Running his eyes over the various symbols and runes surrounding the imposing crystal, Naruto gathered a sphere of natural energy and slowly shifted the shapeless mass into a delicate looking key. After a moment of silent study the shinobi placed the construct into a small crevice, an audible crack echoing throughout the room.

Stepping away from the array, Naruto couldn't help but grin as a thin stream of pure chakra leaked from the small fissure, the potent energy gathering in the air over head before it disappeared. "Well, stage one is complete. Now I just need to monitor his condition and... well hello, Frosty."

Opening his eyes slowly, Naruto let out a soft chuckle at the familiar sensation of cold steel resting gently against his throat. "You know, I was wondering when I'd see you next, Frosty."

Growling softly, Sheila's grip on her weapon tightened for a moment before she calmed down. "You wouldn't have let me get within a dozen feet of you without sending out a clone to meet me three years ago, you're getting soft, old man. If I was an enemy could have slit your throat while you were sitting there... and stop calling me Frosty!" Naruto cocked and eyebrow and looked over his shoulder at the angry jagwere as she stood over top of him.

"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine, Frosty."

For a moment the clearing was completely silent as Sheila stared at the blonde in wide eyed amazement. "Really?"

Blinking slowly, Naruto stared at Sheila for a moment before he began to laugh, his entire body shaking in mirth at the jagwere's wide eyed expression. "Hehehe, your face. Oh, that was so worth it. As if I'd let you kill me, little girl."

Growling angrily, Sheila's arms tensed when the grinning blonde disappeared in a burst of smoke, the dense fumes swirling around the petite jagwere in an instant. Cursing softly, Sheila started to roll clear of the expanding cloud when something slammed into her back and sent her tumbling across the clearing. After crashing face down into the dirt, a heavy arm settled against the nape of her neck while a knee was jammed firmly into the small of her back. "Dammit, let me go!"

Grinning as he sat atop the struggling jagwere, Naruto ran his free hand down Sheila's side for a moment before he struck, his fingers digging into her flesh and muscles until his captive was writhing on his grip. "GAH! S-S-STOP THAT! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP!"

"Give up, Frosty, or I'll make you pee your pants! You know I will!"

"HEHEHEH, S-S-STOP THAT! YOU'RE SUCH AN A-A-ASSHOLE! HAHAHAHAH!"

Naruto took a few more moments to enjoy the cute jagwere's laughter before he released her, his grin never leaving his face while he watched Sheila slowly recover. "Always remember, when you see one of me..."

"...there's bound to be more of you nearby. I remember, you old bastard." Rising to her feet slowly, Sheila's eyes tightened as she stared at Naruto, his arms held out wide as if waiting for the petite jagwere to leap into his arms. "Seriously? You nearly make me piss my pants from laughing too hard and now you want a hug?"

"Well I thought that you'd missed me. But if that's not the case," Naruto said blandly while slowly lowering his arms. "Then we can forget about the hu..." Pausing in mid sentence, Naruto looked down in surprise when Sheila crashed into his chest, her arms wrapping tightly around the happily surprised blonde. "Missed you too, Frosty."

"Jerk." Sniffling softly, Sheila buried her head in the blonde's chest as she clung to him tightly. "You never visit, you never write..."

"Do I need to explain again what being a wandering sage entails? Ow." Sighing softly, Naruto grimaced as Sheila's clawed fingers dug into his back. "Could you please not do that? I already have enough scars as it is."

"Sorry."

Waving off her apology, Naruto suddenly cocked his head to the side and let out a soft groan. Sinking towards the jungle floor and patted the spot beside him. "It's ok. Now sit, you're not going to want to be standing when this hits."

Cocking a suspicious eyebrow, Sheila slowly sank to her knees. "Wait a minute, when what hits?"

"Oh nothing really, it's just a surge of chakra that's currently building up behind a seal I created within me to strengthen another seal that I've had since the day I was born."

Eyes widening in alarm, Sheila looked at the blonde's stomach a moment before glaring at him angrily. "Whoa, whoa, are you insane? You told me mixing multiple seals and people was a bad idea! What the hell?!"

"Yep, cause everyone else is a rookie, I've had lot's of first hand experience over the years." Smirking widely, Naruto let out a shaky breath as an aura of natural energy and chakra flared up around him, his eyes sliding shut as he took several deep breaths. After several moments of silence a wave of pure energy flowed over the seated jagwere, her eyes widening in shock when the dense energy passed over her and through the dense jungle.

"What the hell was that?!"

Opening his eyes slowly, Naruto gave the jagwere a lazy grin. "Just an old friend saying hello."

Back on the beach...

"He's lucky I didn't deck him, Gina. I think it's high time you told Ryan that he needs to either grow up or get lost."

Nodding slowly, Gina glanced at her sister and let out a tired sigh. "You're right. While he is hot, his attitude and the way he treats people is starting to get on my nerves. I'm just waiting for the best time to have a talk with him about it."

"Is it just me," Genn said in awe as she stared at the blonde shinobi. "Or does Naruto have insane amounts of stamina? He hasn't stopped at all since the three of them started playing, it's unreal."

Sharing a smug grin with her sister, Brianna couldn't resist the temptation to lick her lips at the sight of the well muscled blonde. "And that's just one of the many things that make him so desirable, Genn. Oh, look, it looks like Seance and the asshole need a break."

* * *

Gasping for breath, Ryan let out a pitiful groan while he tried to rise to his feet. "S-S-seance, what the hell is going on here?!"

Panting softly, Seance rested his hands on his knees as he silently studied their opponent for several seconds. "I-I didn't know a human could move that fast without the aid of the ether. I don't know what exactly is happening either, Ryan."

"D-do you think we have a chance to beat him?"

Pausing for a moment as he mulled over the question, Seance turned to his teammate and shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think we have any chance." Rising to his feet, Seance glared at the grinning shinobi that stood silently on the other side of the net, the volleyball gripped tightly in his hands as he gave his opponents a chance to catch their breath.

"Wow. That was weak, guys. And in front of Gina, too? Tough break. Hey, I've got an idea!" Turning towards the women, Naruto grinned as Gina and Brianna gave him a pair of wide smiles. "How about one final round, winner takes all! I'll even hold back a little, but you'd better bring your A-game this time!"

Turning towards Seance, Ryan nodded briskly before he glared at the grinning blonde. "I'm game for another round. I'll take any chance I can take to wipe that smug look off of your face."

Seance took a moment to consider the offer before he also nodded. "I accept as well."

Nodding happily, Naruto gently served the ball to his opponents, his eyes growing playful as he watched the pair swiftly get under the ball. After several minutes of volleying back and forth between the men, Naruto began to notice that Ryan was starting to slow down. "Better shape up, Tabbot. Seance just may catch Gina's eye at this rate, what with you being in the doghouse still and all."

Growling angrily at the blonde's jibe, Ryan leaped into the air and sent the ball careening towards the blonde. "SCREW YOU, UZUMAKI! Gina is my girl, she belongs to me and and no one else!"

Naruto's eyes turned cold as he got under the swiftly approaching ball and intercepted it, the light sphere sailing high into the sky. Leaping over a dozen feet skyward, Naruto reared back his hand and struck the ball with his full might, sending the ball hurtling towards a wide eyed Ryan. As the shinobi descended towards the beach, he watched with satisfaction as the volleyball crashed into the redhead's nose, the sound of snapping cartilage bringing a feral grin to the blonde's lips. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Naruto stormed under the net and stood over top of the bleeding treasure hunter. "That's where you're wrong, Tabbot. Gina doesn't belong to anyone, least of all a jumped up little asshole like you. You'd better change your attitude or else you're going to lose 'your girl', and in the end there will be no else to blame other than yourself."

Ryan chose to remain silent, the furious glare he directed towards the looming blonde communicating his answer more clearly than anything he could have said. Turning away from the fallen man, Naruto's clone flashed the trio of concerned looking girls an apologetic smile before he disappeared in a burst of smoke.

* * *

Groaning softly, Naruto rose from the jungle floor and turned towards the north. "Of all the stupid, idiotic, brain dead..."

"What's wrong?" Sheila said worriedly as she rose to her feet and approached the still muttering blonde.

"There was a... disagreement on the beach. My clone got a little angry after Ryan let his mouth run away from himself, the stupid bastard has some serious guts to say that Gina belongs to him. And since he's me, the clone responded the same I would have and and broke Ryan's nose. What an idiot!"

"Hang on a second," Sheila said while she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Your clone broke someone's nose for a legitimate reason and you're ANGRY? Why?!"

"It's simple," Naruto said as he gave the jagwere a disappointed look. "Since he went and punished that asshole for his idiotic, caveman like antics, I can't go after him again unless he continues to screw up. Stupid clones, they're always ruining my fun..."

Sheila let out an aggravated sigh at the ancient shinobi's convoluted logic. "Mom and dad always wondered why Gar and I got along with you so well when we were younger. You're a worse troublemaker than we ever were."

Naruto's petulant expression vanished in an instant as he thought of the many pranks and tricks he'd played on others with the help of the jagwere siblings throughout the years. "Yeah, those were fun times."

Picking up a nearby stone, Sheila gently lobbed the rock towards the blonde and smirked when it struck his forehead. "Says you, we were the ones that got punished all the time. I had to clean the entire house for a month, you jerk."

"Well, yeah," Naruto said with a look of confusion. "It's kinda useless to punish someone that no one else can see, not to mention the fact that if he touches any inert material for too long it would disappear if it got too far from my aura. You wouldn't believe how many pairs of pants I lost before I realized that..."

"Really? How many... wait a second, is that why you always ran away from us when we tried to grab you?"

"Anyways, I think it's time I make my way back towards Gina's portal and sneak in before everyone else. It was good seeing you again Sheila, we'll catch up later..." Naruto almost managed to reach the edge of the clearing before Sheila pulled Ice Fang from her back, the deadly weapon's wicked edge resting gently against his neck once again. "Or not."

"You said when I was old enough you'd teach me. How much longer are you going to keep me waiting? And stop changing the subject," Sheila said as she resisted the urge to smile. "What did you mean by disappearing pants?"

Swallowing loudly, Naruto gently pushed the razor sharp sword off of his shoulder and turned towards the jagwere. "Nevermind my pants, Frosty. And as for training, you're not ready yet. You still need at least another month, maybe two before you're ready."

Growling softly, Sheila sheathed her weapon and approached the blonde with her arms spread widely. "Try me. I think you'll be surprised, I've been practicing my chakra molding every single day like you told me to all those years ago."

Shaking his head slowly, Naruto raised a softly glowing hand and gently pressed it again her stomach, his eyes sliding shut as he concentrated. Sheila smiled softly at the tingling sensation that quickly spread throughout her body, her hands resting atop of Naruto's. "See, I told you, I'm fine... GAH!"

Naruto's eyes flew open at Sheila's soft cry, his free hand reaching around and pulling the panting jagwere into his arms. "Relax, it's ok, it'll pass like it always does. You're right on the edge, Sheila, but you're still a little ways off. Give your body a few months to stabilize and we'll start training, alright?"

Nodding slowly at the blonde's words, Sheila's arms snaked around his waist and held him tightly, a smile gracing her lips as she rested her cheek against the blonde's chest. "You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. And you know how important my promises are, right?"

That night...

Slipping silently into the kitchen, Naruto cocked his head to the side and paused for a moment. 'Perfect, everyone should to be asleep. Now to grab some food and then..."

"Freeze, buster."

Leaping upwards on instinct, Naruto stubbornly clung to the ceiling and panted softly while he took a moment to stare at the frowning expression Gina wore. After he took a few moments to calm down, Naruto let out an angry sigh before he began to slowly relax. "Gina, don't do that! If I hadn't left my weapons in my room I could have... wait a minute, never mind that, how in the HELL did you sneak up on ME?"

Gina gave the blonde a smug grin as she folded her arms under her breasts and casually leaned against the door frame. "I have my ways. Why have you been avoiding us since we got back, Naruto?"

Narrowing his gaze at her evasive answer, Naruto released his hold on the ceiling and landed lightly on his feet. Turning towards the fridge, the shinobi silently examined the appliance's contents before he looked over his shoulder and gave Gina a soft grin. "No reason. I just thought that you'd all want your space after a long day..."

"That you spent humiliating my boyfriend before you then proceeded to break his nose with a volleyball spike."

Pausing in mid exploration, Naruto looked over his shoulder and winced at the annoyed expression Gina was directing at him. "Yeah... about that. Gina, you didn't hear what he said, he said that you belong to him. He was treating you like a thing, a possession!"

Raising her hand in a gesture of silence, Gina reached towards monitor embedded in the wall and hit several keys. A recording appeared and began to play the a portion of the volleyball game, the sounds of the boys exertions playing through several speakers spread through the room. "I already knew what he said, I heard everything. My glasses can function as recording device and as a parabolic microphone. After all, I never know when I'll need to review my findings during a dig."

"Ok, note to self, never be anywhere near Gina when I'm naked."

Growling softly, Gina glared at the blonde and placed a hand on his shoulder and spun the surprised shinobi around. "Dammit, stop acting like I'm an idiot! Don't you think I've realized that Ryan and I are not going to work out? So why did you have to step in and kick his ass? Is it because you're supposed to be our bodyguard, or was it that you didn't trust me to handle the situation? Maybe it's some kind of macho bullshi..."

"I did it because he was being an ass towards one of my friends! I...I know that you can take care of yourself, Gina," Naruto said softly. "I was just so... so angry. I reacted, and I'm sorry."

Sighing softly, Gina bowed her head and stared at the contrite blonde. Swallowing nervously, Naruto slowly closed the fridge door and waited to see if the young explorer was going slap him or continue to yell at him. But in the end Gina simply reached out towards him and pulled him into a tight hug. After several seconds of silence Naruto let himself relax, his arms gently wrapping around Gina and holding her. Pulling her head away from the blonde's chest, Gina gave the shinobi a mock glare before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Dammit, why can't I stay mad at you? It's not fair!" Resting her head against his chest again, Gina closed her eyes and listened to slow rhythm of Naruto's heartbeat, the rhythmic sound helping to wash away the rest of her ire. "You reacted poorly, but it was because you felt that a friend was threatened. I can understand that feeling. But next time, try and let me handle my own problems outside of a dig, ok? When we're in a dangerous situation you're in charge and you can handle whatever we run into however you like, alright?"

"You got it, Gina. From now on I'll keep out of your business... wait, what are you doing?" Naruto looked down at the grinning scientist as her arms slowly wrapped around his neck and pulled him downwards. Gina didn't say a word as she softly kissed the shinobi's cheek before she released the frozen blonde and slowly backed away.

"That was for sticking up for me. Good night, Naruto-kun."

Naruto watched Gina turn towards the doorway, an extra wiggle in her hips as she approached the nearby stairs. Reaching up, the blonde gently touched his cheek and shook his head in confusion. "What? But... but I thought she didn't want me to interfere... dammit, why are women so complicated?!"

Elsewhere...

"Commander, there was an unknown energy surge detected in the southern quadrant earlier today." Raising an eyebrow at the news, the tall eldritch known as Commander Silas crossed the room and studied the rune circles surrounding a pair of twin elves.

"But the southern quadrant is uninhabited... Does the surge match any documented readings listed in the archives, Axoma?"

"Searching... there is a record of a somewhat similar power reading from several thousand years ago." Tapping several runes, Axoma paused for a moment before turning towards Commander Silas. "Origin: Earth. Cause: Unknown. Threat level: Unknown. That's all that we could find, all other information regarding this energy source has been sealed by the council."

Frowning at the news, Commander Silas towards an armored eldritch at his back. "Captain Torus, prepare a recon star. They are to reconnoiter the area and report back with their findings at once."

Snapping to attention, the Captain placed a fist against his heart before nodding firmly. "Sir!"

Silas waited for a moment while his subordinate vanished in a flash of light before he turned his attention towards the twins again. "Amoxa, Axoma, gather all the information that you can locate regarding this anomaly. The council will want to hear about our findings."

"Of course, Commander." Amoxa replied while hiding an evil grin.

"You can count on us, Commander." Axoma said, her thoughts shifting to how she could use this new source of power for her own benefit.

* * *

And there we have it, let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

As you can see I'm still here, it's just been a long and tiring several months of an ongoing shit storm. I'm not trying to get pity, nor am I trying to make an excuse for the length of time between updates. I'm just saying how it has been.

Anyways, I originally was going to make this chapter a but linger but I felt you all had waited long enouhg for it so when I found a decent spot to stop I took it. Hopefully the wait will not be as long for the next chapter. A good way to pump me up is by posting a review. (Yes, I know it's a shameless plug but I can't help it. Reviews give me the warm fuzzies and it lets me know if I've done something stupid or awesome.)

Anyways, on with the show!

* * *

"Hmmmm, all of this ice and snow reminds me of Spring Country." Naruto reached out and placed his gloved hand on the ice encrusted wall, his eyes closing slowly. "And no one has been here for thousands of years?"

"As far as I can tell," Gina's replied tersely. "This place has been buried under the ice for tens of thousands of years at minimum."

Frowning at the annoyed response, Naruto looked over his shoulder to reply when he suddenly froze, tilted his head to the side and let out a soft hum. The blonde reached into one of the several pouches he wore and pulled out a small slip of paper and a brush. Gina cocked an eyebrow and watched in silence while he drew something on the small scrap until her sister's arm wrap around her neck playfully. Gina gave her sibling a caustic glare, one that barely even fazed the tall lycanthrope after years of living with her sibling. "This place is awesome! Imagine if they made a mall like this back home? I'd never leave!"

Gina grumbled for a moment before she pushed her sister away and angrily marched down the dark hallway. Naruto took a moment to look up from his work and stifled a chuckle as he pocketed what he'd been working on and followed after the disgruntled archeologist. Britanny merely grinned at the duo and followed them at a glacially slow pace, in a hope that the pair would be able to work out their current issue. "That girl really needs to learn how to roll with the punches as they come..."

Naruto could feel the waves of irritation radiating off of Gina as approached her, his previous synchronizations with Kurama having imbuded the blonde with a measure of the emotional sensor abilities he gained while channeling his Biju's power. "So we have an amazing, one of a kind find," Naruto said brightly, having decided that subtly was overrated in the current situation. "And you're still mad at me."

Gina immediately came to a halt and gave the grinning blonde a deadpan stare. "I am not mad at you."

"Gina, I've been watching you and your sisters for over six months. I know exactly how you look when you're angry and newsflash, that's your angry face."

Gina glared at her fellow blonde for a moment before releasing a loud sigh, her expression shifting to an apologetic look. "Alright, I am a little... perturbed. It's just that we were supposed to be here alone, but it looks like everyone and their grandmother found this site at the same time. And when we made a run for it you went and..and..."

"Stopped you all from acting like greedy children?"

"Yes, that!" Naruto chuckled at his companion's indignant response, his eyes turning away from the pouting blonde and towards the main cavern and the group of adults within it. Naruto smiled at the sight of Charlotte, the grinning harpy waving enthusiastically at the blonde while Penny gave him a speculative look. Ryan turned his back on the blonde and stalked to the other side of the cavern. _'Well, those are the people that you do know, now what about the others...'_

A pair of twins that Gina had identified as the Montara's kept casting the blonde sullen glares in between snippets of conversation with another explorer named Lendo Rival-san. Apparently he didn't get the moment regarding casual Friday's.' Naruto thought glibly. It was strange that Lendo appeared ready to attend a boardroom meeting rather than explore a lost city, but the blonde was used to eccentric personalities. But it was the final trio of explorers that attracted Naruto's attention, not because of anything mysterious or powerful, but rather the way in which the two bodyguards accompanying Erwin Talon studied everyone so intently. _'I've seen that look before. They're sizing everyone up in case they need to take us out of the picture.'_ When the pair's gazed fell on him he gave them a triumphant grin and leaned against the cavern wall, his thoughts turning towards the moment of their arrival.

Chapter 5

 _Earlier that day..._

"I can't wait to show you what I found, Naruto," Gina said happily, the excited blonde grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him away from the light gate. "Who knows what we'll find here!"

"Gina, slow down," Naruto said through his laughter. "We can take as much time as we need to explore this place, I mean what are the chances that someone else would be here..." Naruto's voice trailed off when they arrived at some kind of central hub and saw several other people appearing from a number of tunnels spread through the junction.

"Gold Digger/Gina?" Naruto looked to his left and gave Ryan Tabbot and Penny Pincher a shit eating grin, an action that caused both explorers to take an apprehensive step back.

"You two I know," Naruto said while turning towards the remaining explorers and giving them each a assessing glance. "But the rest of you are new to me. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this doesn't happen very often, does it?"

Eyes darting back and forth among her competition, Gina turned towards her sister and gave her a quick nod. The lone were-cheetah scooped up her sibling and racing towards the main passageway. "Naruto, run for it! We can't let them get to the main city before us!"

Naruto let out a soft chuckle and shook his head ruefully, the remaining explorers letting out angry shouts while they raced after the girls. The ancient blonde took a moment to wonder if he'd been as impulsive in his younger days before he decided to follow his charges. But before he could even take a step a angry looking woman ran past him. "Dammit, get back here right now, all of you! This isn't a free for all, I demand that you stop this childish nonsense immediately!"

Naruto hummed thoughtfully and stared at the furious woman's back for several moments before he gently tapped her shoulder. "I'm assuming you're from the Explorer's Society?"

Naruto's friendly expression never wavered as the older woman focused her angry expression on him, her eyes flashing in irritation at the interruption. "YES I-I..." Naruto held in a snicker, the woman's thunderous expression shifting to one sheer embarrassment. "U-um, yes, I-I am... a-and you are?"

"That's not important right now," Naruto said dismissively as he gestured towards the retreating explorers. "But I'm guessing that you have business with them all, Miss?"

The woman's embarrassment vanished at the mention of the fleeing explorers. "Hagger, Miss Hagger. And you're right, I do have business with all of them! There seems to be some sort of a mix-up in the World Archeological Foundation's database on who amongst them registered this find initially. No one is allowed the legally claim this site until I can resolve this mix up. But now that they've all run off..."

"It makes your job that more difficult." Naruto nodded his head and turned towards the tunnel the explorers had used for their escape. "Wait right here, I'll go get'em."

Miss Hagger didn't have any time to ponder the blonde's words before a powerful gust of wind washed over her, her eyes widening in surprise at the empty cavern. "What in the world..."

* * *

"I still can't believe they thought they could lose me by splitting up. Heh, rookies."

"Admittedly," Gina said as she studied the angry expressions of her fellow explorers. "It would have worked against anyone else. How did you get everyone back here so quickly?"

"Penny and Ryan were easy, apparently they're still a little scared of me. When I found them they just screamed and ran the other way. As for the others," Naruto said while gesturing towards several groggy looking adventures. "I had my clones poison them before bringing them back here."

Gina immediately stopped and glared at the easy going blonde, her voice coming out in a strangled whisper. "P-p-poisoned!"

"Relax, it was just a sleeping agent. I didn't feel like arguing with them and it would have been too much of a hassle to beat the shit out of them so I went with something a little more low key." Gina couldn't help but giggle at his dismissive tone, her sister joining in a moment later as she finally caught up to the pair. Naruto gave the girls a broad grin before he turned towards the others, his expression growing even more gleeful at their baleful expressions. But the real icing on the cake was the sour look Ryan was aiming his way.

"Don't look now," Naruto said with a soft, sing-song voice. "But somebody's looking pretty jealous..." Britanny cocked an eyebrow and snickered softly once she caught sight of the petulant redhead, while Gina let out a angry huff before she turned away from the pitiful sight.

"And there he is, acting like a child again. I don't know what I ever saw in him. He's rude..."

Britanny let loose a very unladylike snort and leaned against Naruto's shoulder. "I remember when she first saw him, she said he was hot."

Gina took a moment to glare at her sister before continuing. "... he's condescending."

"He's pretty ripped for a normal guy and he's a decent in a scrap." Naruto held in his laughter when Britanny looked over her shoulder and winked at him before turning back towards her sister.

"He's arrogant to the point of carelessness!"

"Some would call that confidence."

"He's a bully! He's always putting down Seance," Gina said angrily, her arms folding against her chest as she approached her sister. "And he even started to do the same with Naruto!"

"He's trying to be an 'alpha'," Britanny said simply, her hands resting on her hips as she leaned forward. "And while it's completely useless in Naruto's case, it's also completely normal for him to try and show the rest of 'the pack' who's boss!"

Gina growled softly while she raised a finger towards her sister. "Do you know how many times I caught him looking at other women while he was with me!?"

"Probably the same amount of times he caught you looking at other guys?! And don't point your finger at me, Sis. Remember what happened the last time you did that, HUH?!" Britanny said sharply, a feral grin accentuating her razor sharp teeth.

Naruto realized it was time to step in before the girls went past threatening each other. A shrill whistle succeeded in attracting their attention, their angry glares focusing on him in an instant. "Ok, girls, that's enough. You're attracting an audience."

Britanny smirked at the sight of Gina's head whipping towards the other explorers, their amused expressions faltering at the young scientist's icy glare. After several moments of silence Gina's gaze focused on the young man in question, her lips twitching for a moment before she let out an uncontrollable giggle. Ryan felt his cheeks burning in shame at the sight of his former girlfriend, her hands clamping over her mouth as she tried in vain to get her laughter under control. _'That's it, I give up.'_ Ryan though grumpily.

Naruto couldn't help but stare at Gina while her giggling fit continued unabated, his expression growing concerned as he turned to her sister for help. One helpless shrug later and Naruto decided to take matters into his own hands, his arm reaching out and wrapping around the giggling scientist while he lifted her off the ground. Gina weakly struggled for a few moments before she gave up, her laughter continuing unabated while Naruto positioned her over his shoulders.

Shaking his head slowly, Naruto turned to face the others and paused for a moment at their slack jawed expressions. "It's ok, I'll make sure she doesn't hurt herself until she recovers. Miss Hagger," Naruto said while nodding respectfully towards the seated administrator. "Any luck yet?"

Miss Hagger cleared her through loudly before she consulted her laptop a final time. "In a sense. The main office says that each of you registered your claims for this site at the same time," Miss Hagger said evenly, the middle aged woman ignoring the explorers angry cries for several moments before she continued her explanation. "As I was saying, this site will need to be shared equally amongst you all since it appears none of you can actually work together. I'm afraid there's no other option. Now, before I assign each of you a sector, I think that this young man here has earned the right to pick where he and his group will start due to his assistance in gathering all of you here."

Angry shouts met the older woman's declaration, but Miss Hagger refused to budge on her 'unfair' decision. Penny declared that this was nothing more than blatant 'favoritism', while the Montara twins swiftly followed up with demands that the softly giggling blonde and her crew were to be ejected from the site, post haste. Naruto let out an exasperated sigh and raised his free hand and released a weak burst of Futon chakra that sent most of the young adults skidding back several feet. "That's enough! What she says goes," Naruto said harshly. "Or does someone have a problem with that?" Silence returned to the ancient cavern within moments, each of the explorers taking a moment to reassess their opinions regarding the tall blonde. "Alright, that's better. Now then, which sectors are available for study, ma'am?"

Nodding towards the blonde in thanks, Miss Hagger quickly consulted her equipment before answering. "The available sectors are the east, west, north-west, south-east, south-west and the central hub according to the information provided with your claims. The north-east appears to be inaccessible for the time being so we'll leave it..."

"We'll take it." Turning to face the blonde, Miss Hagger gave him a curious look while the woman perched on his shoulders began to struggle violently.

"But how will you access the site?" Miss Hagger said, her eyes focusing on the still struggling Gina.

"Oh don't worry about us," Naruto said happily, a manic grin appearing once more. "We'll be just fine. Gina's car is being driven up by some friends and it flies, so it's not that big of a deal."

"The hell we will! Naruto, let me down this instant! This is my dig and I'll decide where we go! Are you even listening to me... KYAAA!" Gina's angry cries cut off in an instant when a large hand slapped her ass firmly, her surprised squeal eliciting laughter from some while others glared at the shinobi.

"Gina, relax. I'm sure we can work something out with Miss Hagger, can't we?" Naruto loosened his grip enough that Gina was able to peer over his shoulder, her pleading gaze swiftly eroding the older woman's resolve.

"Well, maybe we can come to some sort of compromise..."

* * *

Galford watched the unknown blonde as he continued his discussion with Miss Hagger, his mind working furiously to try and piece together what had just happened. _'That attack was not psychic in nature, nor did it show any of the tell tale signs of a magical attack. That leaves elemental manipulation, but there is no sign of a focus... hmm.'_ Galford's thoughts trailed off when he turned to look at his employer, the familiar glint in Irwin Talon's eyes nearly causing the ninja to sigh aloud. _'Please don't say what I think you're going to say...'_

"Interesting. Galford, I'll need you to secure a genetic sample of that man before we leave. Zelda can handle Britanny while Ionis stays undercover with me."

 _'Dammit.'_ Galford's eyes screwed shut as he released a long suffering sigh. "Lord Talon, is that wise? I have the feeling that he's much more dangerous than he appears."

"Do you have such little faith in the modifications I've made to your genetic structure? You should be more than a match for whoever he is, I bet Gold Digger probably brought him along because she thought he was cute..." Irwin's voice trailed off when the blonde in question slowly turned his head and stared at him with a blank expression. Erwin swallowed loudly when the blonde's blank expression suddenly shifted into a feral grin. Erwin turned away from the blonde and met Galford's patient gaze. "On second thought, maybe you should take Zelda with you."

* * *

"I've never seen anything like this before..." Gina said softly, her eyes slowly scanning the massive chamber surrounding her. "Seeing as we're in the center of this complex it's safe to say that most of the city's infrastructure was tied into area due to it's location. But the technology that's present is... mind boggling."

"Really? Sounds similar to how we did things back home, the Hokage's Tower was smack dab in the middle of the village too." Naruto said absently as he stared down a dark corridor. "Find anything else interesting?"

Gina let out an exasperated sigh. "If you are looking for something to do then you should have gone with Britanny to collect Seance and Genn instead of sending a clone with her. If you're going to stay with me then please be quiet and allow me to continue with my work."

After several moments of silence Naruto glanced over his shoulder, the sight of Gina furiously tapping away at her tablet bringing a nostalgic smile to his lips. 'Yep, she's pissed. Reminds me of how her mom acted from time to time when I trained her... those were fun days.'

"We're lucky that Miss Hagger gave us access to the central hub in addition to the North East sector, otherwise I'm afraid that our excursion here would have been in vain." Gina said distractedly while she continued inputting data, her eyes constantly flicking between the various characters carved into the walls and her notes. _'Dammit, Gina, don't look! You have to be strong, you can not let him flash you that damned grin of his and allow him to get off scot free for making decisions on his own like that!'_

"Wasted? Really?" Naruto said calmly as he leaned against a nearby wall, his hands sliding into his pockets while he calmly stared at his distracted charge.

"Yes, really! The north east zone is the smallest sector due to the massive pit located there," Gina said simply before she risked a glance at the blonde. _'Maybe I'm overreacting, one little look can't hurt...'_ Gina's thoughts trailed off at the sight of the roguish grin her bodyguard wore, a pool of warmth blooming to life in the pit of her stomach. _'Dammit, why does he have to be such a hunk?'_ The sudden appearance of the light gate gave her an out, allowing her to focus her attention on the stacks of gear resting at her feet. "N-not to mention it's outside of t-the main city's boundaries! While I do trust your judgment regarding security and our well being, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave all decision's regarding archeology to me."

Nodding slowly at her words, Naruto pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket and casually placed it against a bare patch of wall. "Of course I trust your judgment regarding archeology, I wouldn't have a clue of where to start. But this venture has turned into a security matter, which we've agreed I'm in charge of."

Gina paused for a moment and softly chewed on her lower lip, her thoughts racing while she tried to decide if it was safe to look over her shoulder once again. "R-really? And what possible reason could you have to reclassify my expedition as..."

"LEAVE, NOW."

Naruto resisted the urge to smirk when Gina shot to her feet and raced towards him, her hands clutching at his coat while she hid behind the taller blonde. "That's my reason." Naruto glanced over his shoulder and gave Gina a confident smile. "I've been hearing that voice since we arrived and it's coming from this direction. Still think that my decision was a bad one?"

Swallowing loudly, Gina to the side and too a cautious peek at the dark corridor.. "How... how come we can hear it now?"

"Amplification seal," Naruto said softly, his hand waving in the general direction of the tag he'd placed earlier. "It amplifies sound waves and rebroadcasts them at a specified location. They're usually used for eavesdropping within a fortified position, it's standard kit for any infiltration shinobi that's got half a brain or if you're a seal master." Naruto raised his hands and several bursts of smoke appeared in front of him, revealing a small group of clones. A pair of clones ran back towards the main portion of the city while the rest raced into the dark tunnel. "They'll scout the area before dispersing while the others make sure that we're not disturbed. Meanwhile," Naruto said as he glanced over his shoulder and and grinned. "I'll stay here with you while you finish up with this place."

Gina's eyes widened in alarm at the blonde's potent grin, her cheeks growing warmer by the second. "O-ok, that sounds great... wait a minute," Gina leaned forwards, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the shinobi intently. "Something's off about you, you're acting much more forward than usual..." Gina let out a thoughtful hum and studied the grinning shinobi's face for several moments. "Hang on... you're not the real Naruto."

The clone let out a bark of laughter. "Well done, call me Naru. We've found it helps some people keep track of who's who. I'm surprised that you realized what was going on, what gave me away?"

Gina took a step back and gave Naru an unsure look. "I don't really know, I mean the flirting was a little abnormal in comparison to Naruto's normal behavior but it was not THAT abnormal. Woman's intuition, maybe?"

Naru closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not? It's as good a reason as any. You'll find that us clones, while copies of the Boss, have a mind of our own. We're also more than willing to have a bit of fun at the Boss' expense. As for where he is right now, there was a situation he wanted to handle personally."

* * *

"I'm still surprised that you're not with Gina, seeing how she can't fight worth a damn." Britanny said in surprise as the pair slowly made their way towards the city's southeast entrance.

Naruto nodded at at his companion's assessment of Gina's skills before he threw a mischievous look over his shoulder. "That would make sense, but some situations require a more personal touch," Naruto said before he turned towards a nearby pillar. "Wouldn't you both agree?"

"Ohhh?" Britanny gave the blonde a speculative glance while she rested her folded arms on top of his head.. "Wow, your senses sure are top notch, I could barely tell they were there myself. He's right, you two, it's no use hiding from us. You'd better come out before I send in my new buddy in after ya, Baldy!"

"Dammit, I will kick your furry ass, Diggers!" Zelda growled angrily, her angry gaze never wavering as she strode into sight. Galford silently followed his fellow bodyguard, but his eyes were instead focused on Naruto. "We're only here for your new boy toy, but I'll gladly put you in your place, Kitty."

"KITTY!? I'LL SHOW YOU HOW MUCH OF A KITTY I AM, CUE BALL!" Britanny growled angrily, but before she could move she felt her current perch began to shake, the sound of Naruto's soft laughter breaking through her anger.

"Cue ball, Kitty... oh, I'm going to have to remember those names for later. Cheetah, go meet up with Genn and Seance, I'll handle these two on my own."

Britanny pushed off of Naruto's head and gave the shinobi a sidelong glance. "Are you sure? It's not like I don't think that you'll totally wipe the floor with them both," Britanny said simply, a mischievous gleam appearing in her eyes at the sound of Zelda's angry growl. "But the last time I saw you fight it was pretty destructive, and if you blow this place up then Gina is liable to get pissed with us both!" Naruto cocked an eyebrow and gave his companion a deadpan stare, his expression holding firm for several moments before Britanny let out a nervous giggle. "Sorry, never mind, silly question! I'll just leave you with these two and see how Seance and Genn are doing!"

Naruto watched silently as Britanny spun towards the dark corridor and raced out of the room, his amused gaze instantly shifting towards his opponents. "So you're both here to get me, hmm? I think I remember hearing something about a sample..."

Galford continued his silent observation of the carefree blonde while Zelda unleashed a manic grin. "That's right! Pee Wee wants a sample and so he's gonna get one! You'd better fork it over willingly or else we'll beat the shit out of you and take what we want!"

Naruto calmly placed his hands in his coat pockets and chuckled softly at the brawler's confidence. "Ohhhh? You'll 'beat the shit out of me'? The only way that'll happen, Cue ball, is if I let you win. But let's see what you've got, unless your all talk, bitch."

Naruto resisted the urge to giggle at the sight of an angrily blushing and twitching Zelda let out a furious roar and charged him. Naruto had the strangest feeling of deja vu as Zelda threw a right handed back fist towards his face, his hand slapping the powerful blow aside with ease. But Zelda immediately spun around and let loose a roundhouse kick that hit nothing but air, her target having already crouched towards the ground. Zelda's patience finally snapped at the blonde's almost casual reaction to her attacks, the frustrated woman bellowing angrily while she threw a simple punch with all of her weight behind it. But before the blow could land her target had vanished into thin air.. "What!? Where did he go?"

"Oh sweet Kami, now I know how he felt! Now how did it go... oh yeah! You shouldn't let your opponent get behind you, Baka!" Zelda reacted instantly and kicked her leg out behind her in the hope that she'd catch the blonde off guard, but Naruto calmly stepped back and was ready for her when she whirled around and chased after him.

While Naruto continued to stay several steps ahead of his frustrated opponent, Galford had remained completely silent and continued to observe the blonde movements. 'There is not a single wasted motion, not to mention it's almost as if he knows what Zelda is going to do before she does it. Hmmmm...' Galford scan the floor for a moment before he crouched down and palmed a jagged piece of rock. Galford rose to his feet and continued his silent observation, his fingers slowly caressing the piece of rubble while he continued to wait for an opportunity to present itself.

Naruto had to try and regain control of his laughter while he danced around Zelda's dogged assault, but it was nearly impossible task since his thoughts had turned towards his training sessions with Jiraiya and Kakashi during his youth. _'I'll bet they felt the same way that I do right now... so that's why those two wanted to continually spar.'_ A small shift of his body to the left may have saved Naruto from a powerful looking left cross but it put his face directly in the path of an oncoming stone. Naruto's eyes narrowed in irritation as he flung a hand up and intercepted the missile, his free hand lashing out and slamming into Zelda's gut. Naruto watched the gene spliced fighter stagger back several steps before he looked in Galford's direction, his hand flicking forwards and sending the projectile back the way it came. It was almost moving too quickly for Galford to dodge but he managed to escape with a nothing more than a nicked cheek. "Really? A rock? That's pretty rude, ya know," Naruto said testily. "I should at least rate some shuriken, maybe even a few kunai... but a rock?!"

Galford shook his head slowly and lowered himself into a ready stance. "Kunai? I see you've watched too many cartoons. Ninja do not use kunai as a throwing weapon and the risk of hitting my teammate with shuriken was too high."

Cocking his head to the side, Naruto's eyes tightened as he stared at the masked ninja. "You don't use kunai as a throwing weapon? Guess that explains why you suck so much. Even Bushy-brows was better than you and he couldn't use his chakra at all."

"DAMMIT, WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" Zelda screamed angrily as she swung at the calm blonde, her fist smacking impotently against his open hand. Naruto gave the brawler a saucy wink before he heaved, his chakra enhanced strength sending Zelda flying across the room.

"Geez, and I thought I had problems realizing that I was beaten. But if you really want someone to kick your ass that badly," Naruto said eagerly. "I can fill the part."

* * *

"How's it coming over there, Gina?"

Gina gave Naru a distracted wave and continued fiddling with the light gate controls for a few more moments when a brief flash of light appeared, her equipment returning to her lab for further analysis. "I've gotten as much as I can from an initial survey. If we have more time I can come back later..."

Naru pushed away from the wall and approached the blonde when he suddenly stopped, a manic grin appearing as he pointed over Gina's shoulder. "Hehehehe... HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, oh, you're not going to want to miss this! Look!"

Gina gave her fellow blond a quizzical look before she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening in shock at at the sight of a hogtied Ryan being dragged across the freezing ground by a grinning clone. Gina grabbed onto Naru's arm and turned into a giggling mess for several moments before she even attempted to calm herself, her mind desperately thinking of anything she could say to the redhead to increase his embarrassment. But her plans went up in smoke when she watched the second clone lead Penny and Charlotte into the chamber, the tenuous hold on her laughter shattering at the sight of their bowed heads and defeated gait. "Ohh, oh, this is too much! BWAHAHAHAH!"

Naru gave his giggling charge a sidelong glance before he glanced at Ryan, the redhead's furious glare eliciting a playful smirk from the blonde. "It's your own fault, Tabbot. I'm betting that you tried to attack when you saw the guys, so everything they did was nothing more than self defense."

"Self defense?!" Turning his gaze towards a furiously blushing Penny, the clone struggled to hold back a chuckle. "Your look alike here gave the man the ass poke from hell! Who the hell uses something like that as a combat move!? But more importantly," Penny said, her attention turning towards her rival. "Triplets? I never knew you were so kinky, Gold Digger!"

Gina took an angry step towards the bound woman when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder, her head turning and focusing on Naru's nostalgic grin. "Yeah, that move brings back memories..." Naru said fondly before he his pressed on. "But anyways, you three really need to hear what I have to say. This place isn't as uninhabited as we thought it was, and the tenant really doesn't seem to be the friendly type..."

"LEAVE. NOW."

"... And as you can probably guess from the ominous voice demanding that we leave. This is what's known as a 'Bad Thing'." Naru took a few moments to study the captive trio's expressions before he let out a tired sigh. "But I can tell from your excited expressions that you're all going to ignore me and stay here like a bunch of dumbass morons. Seriously, why do I even bother..."

"I guess you must be a dumbass as well, Uzumaki, since your still here." Ryan said snidely.

"I'm not a dumbass, I'm protecting one." Naru said simply before he turned and flashed a grin at Gina, the furious woman growling softly while she sharply slapped the clone's arm. It was more than enough to destabilize the delicate chakra matrix, the clone popping in an instant. Both Penny and Ryan looked at the swiftly dissipating smoke before they turned and stared at the remaining clones.

"Smart ass," Gina said petulantly. "Nevermind that, what do you three want? As you can see, we're kind of busy here."

Penny gave the clone beside her a final, assessing look before she turned towards her rival. "Before we get into that, can you please tell... whatever He is to cut me loose?" Penny nearly flinched when she felt a hand grab her arm and roughly pull her back, her eyes locking onto the clone's irritable expression while he slashed the wire binding her wrists.

"Lady, if you keep talking about me like I'm some kind of thing then we're going to have a problem. A BIG one."

Penny bowed her head apologetically while she started massaging her bruised wrists. "I'm sorry, it's just that I have no idea what's going on here. Not to mention Erwin's got me concerned, that's why I came here. You know he's the kind of guy to off people rather than share, so I was coming to see if you were willing to team up against him when your... friend tied us up."

Gina strode forward and angrily jabbed a finger into Penny's sternum, eliciting a look of surprise from her rival. "You're right, he is my friend. And if you ever treat Naruto like you just did I'll let him loose on you. Maybe he'll tie you up and hang you from a flagpole in downtown Atlanta? No, that's too pedestrian, it would have to be something much more humiliating..."

"Oooooh, just think of the possibilities!" The clone said happily. "But possible embarrassing pranks aside, we really should get back to the scary and ominous voice and what we're going to do about it."

Gina nodded slowly while she tapped away at her hand held tablet. "Well, it'll be easier to navigate the sector with the car. I wonder what's keeping Brit and the others..."

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

"Oh come on!" Britanny growled angrily as she reached the supply depot Lendo's people had constructed, her sneaker clad feet skidding across the floor for a few brief moments. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of her sister's car as it rose into the air before streaking towards a dark corridor, a frustrated growl passing her lips while it disappeared from sight.

Britanny' attention immediately shifted towards the unconscious forms of Genn and Seance. Kneeling beside the pair, Britanny checked them over for several moments before letting out a relived sigh. "No injuries, they're just sleeping. Time to give Sis the bad news... wait a second," Britanny said softly, a mischievous grin slowly growing as she pulled out a small tablet. "I think I have just the person to break the bad news to Gina."

* * *

"Stop reacting to what I do and anticipate it!" Naruto stated firmly while he flung his arms out and wrapped them around Zelda's outstretched leg. Grinning broadly at the indignant squawk his opponent gave, Naruto effortlessly swung the trapped woman towards her partner and took a moment to relish the sight of Galford's eyes widening to comedic proportions moments before his partner crashed into him. Naruto let out a pleased sound and took a moment to enjoy the sight of them bouncing across the floor when a soft chime rang in his ear. "Hold that thought, I need to take this call. Maybe you can use this time to think up a new strategy?"

Naruto went to tap the small device nestled in his ear but his hand changed direction and blocked several blows from a recovered Galford, the masked man's eyes narrowing in irritation when each attack failed to land. A frustrated growl passed the ninja's lips as he skipped back, his hands glowing brightly for a moment before he released a beam of energy towards the infuriating blonde. Yawning softly, Naruto's hands flashed through a series of seals before he stomped a foot on the hard ground, a series of stone walls rising from the ground and stopping the energy attack cold. "Talk about rude, you give a guy a chance to recover and what do they do? They throw it in your face. Anyways," Naruto said irritably while he tapped his com-bud. "What's up?"

" _Naruto? How's it going buddy? Have you finished kicking some thug ass yet?"_

"Eh, I wouldn't call it ass-kicking per se," Naruto said simply. "I'm actually showing them just how badly they're outclassed. Some people just take longer to get the message than others." Naruto's impromptu wall crumbled at that moment, revealing a pair of angry glares. Naruto's knees went limp a moment later, giving the blonde a perfect view of the stalactite covered ceiling while Zelda flew through the spot his torso had recently occupied. The sight of her shocked expression gave the blonde shinobi a warm, fuzzy feeling. _'Ah, that look brings back so many memories of my pranking days.'_

" _Uh huh, right. Look, I could really use your help in breaking some bad news to Gina. I'm pretty sure if I tell her she'll flip, but for you I think she'll keep her temper in check."_

"Really?" Naruto said in a bland voice. "And what exactly... hang on a sec," Naruto said swiftly before muting the device. "Oi, Faker, Chromedome. This may take a minute or two so I repeat, think up a new strategy cause the old one ain't working." Naruto flashed the pair a mocking grin and ignored their angry growls before he turned his back on them. "So what exactly am I telling Gina, Cheets?"

" _Well, someone kinda, sorta... nicked the car."_

Naruto nodded silently for a moment before he cocked his head to the side and gained a thoughtful expression. "Nicked... I don't think I've heard that expression before."

" _Right, I forgot, different era. It means that the car was stolen."_

"Oh, stolen! Well that is bad... wait, what do you mean, someone stole the CAR?! I JUST WAXED THAT THING!"

" _Really? That's awesome, Gina never does that! And it's a shame since it gives it an awesome finish!"_

"Well I was bored the other day and I just happened to find myself near the garage... wait a minute, that's not the point!" Naruto said with an angry growl. "The point is someone has just earned an ass kicking! Who was it?"

" _Well they were already airborne when I got here but my guess is that it was Pee Wee."_

Naruto's mouth snapped shut before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Really? Well then, I think I'll have a small chat with his employees. Give me a moment, please." Naruto let out a calming sigh and slowly clenched his fists. "Alright you two," Naruto said calmly as he turned to face his opponents. "Now I'm mad... WHAT THE HELL?!"

A rapidly fading Zelda gave Naruto a happy grin while Galford glared at him balefully "Oh, would you look at the time," Zelda said smugly. "It's been fun but we've really got to go. We'll catch up later, Dobe."

Naruto's jaw clenched angrily, his cobalt eyes shifting to a deep crimson for a brief moment. "I WILL FIND YOU, AND WHEN I DO I WILL WIPE THAT DAMNED SMIRK FROM YOUR FACE! I SWEAR IT, DATTE... DAMMIT, I THOUGHT I BROKE THAT HABIT!"

"HAH! A verbal tick," Zelda said with delight her hands clapping together gleefully. "That's so precious! Ta ta!" A moment later the pair vanished from sight and Naruto's head fell towards the floor. Finally, after several moments of silence, Naruto's hand slowly reaching for his comm bud.

"Cheetah."

" _Hey, how'd it go? Did those two jerks cough up any info?"_ After several seconds of silence Britanny let out a frustrated sigh. _"Damned comms are screwing up again, I knew we should have placed that booster..."_

"The comms are fine, Cheets" Naruto said softly, a pale blue glow flaring to life around the shinobi. "I'm just thinking of the ass-kicking that Baldy and Faker have earned once I catch up to them."

" _Wait, they got away!? But you're a freaking bad ass! How the hell did they get away from you?"_

"Not now," Naruto said curtly, the blonde already making his way towards the cavern exit. "I've got a feeling that their heading towards Gina, so I'd better get back before she gets into too much trouble."

* * *

"Well, did you get me my sample?" Erwin gave Zelda and Galford a moment to respond but all he got for his troubles was silence. "Well, what happened?"

Zelda folded her arms under her breasts and studied the landscape outside of the Ginamobile, while Galford bowed his head apologetically. "Apologies, Lord Talon. There were... complications."

Erwin let out an irritated growl and turned away from the pair. "Complications, right. We'll discuss your failure later, but for now let's go see what's happening in the North-East sector."

break

"I've visited tombs that we're more lively than this," Gina said softly, her eyes shifting towards her escort. "Are you sure that the voice came from here?"

"Oh yeah," Naru said softly. "It's here." The clone whistled softly at the sight of the softly lit chamber, his head craning towards the dimly glowing ice overhead. "Hmmm, the ice overhead is thick enough to protect this place from view, yet still thin enough to allow light to pass through from the surface. Interesting..." Naru's eyes slowly scanned the massive cavern before he turned towards a lone archway, his expression turning thoughtful. "And from what I can see, the original inhabitants of this city wanted to make sure that no one could get to whatever is out there."

"Maybe it's where they kept their treasure? It'd make it near impossible for it to be stolen."

Naru paused for a moment and slowly turned away from the ruins, his incredulous stare focusing on a hopeful looking Ryan. "Wow. Really, I have to say that's, that's... the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Putting all your valuables way the hell out there," Naru gestured towards the archway emphatically. "Is the single most idiotic thing I have heard from you yet. Congratulations, you continue to surprise and amaze me with your stupidity, Tabbot." Ryan's eyes narrowed as he turned towards the shinobi, the veins on his neck standing out as he attempted to reign in his temper.

Gina and Penny gave each other a sidelong glance before they broke into a set of muffled snickers, their reaction eliciting a grin from the ancient shinobi. "No treasure. Well, at least not tha main location of it. There could be something out there, but it's more likely that it's either something related to the operation of the city or..."

Gina's expression grew thoughtful at Naru's continued silence. "Or?"

"Or it's related to the city's defense. It's smart really, we used a similar design back home. The main offices for our leader and the majority of it's defenses were stationed smack dab in the middle of our village, meaning anyone dumb enough to try and attack us had to fight their way in. It worked for the most part, only one man ever managed to make it through and he was pretty much the exception."

"One man?" Ryan said arrogantly, a scoff passing his lips. "If it was such a smart idea then how come it didn't work?"

Naru paused and leaned over the edge of the cliff for a moment before he backed away from the dark chasm, his eyes slowly scanning the walls of the dim cavern. After several moments of silence he grinned in triumph and slowly approached Ryan. Both men stared at one another for several tense moments. "Because he claimed that he was a god... and he had enough power to back that claim up. But in the end we managed to stop him and my village survived." Naru created another clone and gave Ryan a smug look. "But that's not really important right now. What is important is that I've had more then enough of your constant whining so my fellow clone here is going to poison you and take you back to the entrance."

"What the hell?! POISON! Let meee.. goooooo..." Naru grinned cheekily while his double jabbed a senbon into Ryan's leg, the redhead's angry shouts swiftly trailing off. Both clones nodded at each other before the one hauling Ryan around leaped into the air and disappeared into one of the many small tunnels dotting the walls of the large cavern.

"Ah, much better." Naru said cheerily, a grin stretching across his face as he turned and faced the silent girls.

"How?"

Blinking slowly, Naru gave Penny a confused look for a moment. "How what?"

"You said that your village beat a man that could rival a god," Penny said softly, "How?"

Naru let out a soft laugh and gave her a nostalgic grin. "Simply, we sent our most unpredictable shinobi out to fight him. It was pretty close a few times, but in the end he kicked the bastard's ass." Penny gave the grinning blonde a speculative look for several moments before she leaned towards Charlotte and started whispering in the harpy's ear.

During the conversation Gina had approached the edge of the cliff and stared at the far off ledge, her hands rapidly typing away at her tablet. "So, do you think this thing that we've been hearing is some kind of guardian?"

Naru gently placed his hand on Gina's shoulder and smothered a chuckle when she jumped at the casual contact. "Could be, but there's no way to know until we look. Ready to go?" Gina gave Naru an incredulous look for a moment before her gaze shifted towards the construct's outstretched hand, a hand she took moments later.

Naru bent his knees and lifted the surprised archeologist into the air, her arms immediately wrapping around his neck. He then turned towards Charlotte and gave her a friendly smile. "Think you can keep up, Charlie?"

Nodding rapidly, Charlotte slid her arms around Penny's waist and flapped her wings, the pair rising into the air and hovering in place. Crouching down, Naru leaped into the darkness, his feet landing nimbly on a stalagmite. Gina let out a surprised squeal, one of her hands swiftly clamping down her fedora as the blonde took to the air again. Grinning broadly at the older blonde, Gina held on tight as the small group silently approached their target. After several dozen leaps the small group had nearly reached the lone building when Naru stopped and looked over his shoulder. Gina gave the clone a worried look before she glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Naru remained silent for several moments before he turned towards their destination. "I thought I heard something. I think that you three had better find some cover when we hit the ledge."

Gina gave a stiff nod ion agreement, her eyes narrowing as the pair continued their journey towards the cavern's sole structure. Gina let out a sigh of relief once they were on solid ground, that is until she caught sight of her car barreling out of the main passageway with a pair of attack helicopters in hot pursuit. She let out a choking wheeze as she watched both copters open fire on her ride, her fists clutching at Naru's coat. "Guh! M-m-my car! They're shooting at my car, those assholes!"

"Worry about the car later," Naru said sharply. "Find cover! NOW!" The chakra construct was happy to note that Gina immediately snapped out of her tirade and ran towards a large cluster of boulders, while Penny and Charlotte fell into step behind the archeologist. Turning towards the aerial battle, Naru let out a surprised hum as he watched the Montara twins appear out of thin air, their joined hands glowing brightly. "Huh, I wonder what they can do... oh for fuck's sake," Naruto exclaimed, his eyes widening at the sight of a massive fireball appearing over the twin's heads. "Why the hell do I always get stuck with assholes that can use fire?"

* * *

"Do something, Ionis!" Erwin Talon, boy genius, watched helplessly as one of the Ginamobile's stabilizers exploded, sending the vehicle in to a flat spin towards the frozen ground.

Ionis eyes scanned the control board for several seconds in a panic before letting out a triumphant shout. "Screw this shit! Abandon car!" When his fist slammed against a deep red switch marked 'Eject', Ionis watched the car's canopy fly free via several explosive bolts a split second before he and his fellow thieves were flung into the air. Ionis cursed under his breath and raised his hands overhead, a nimbus of light forming around himself and his cohorts. "Now aren't you happy that I took the time to study that levitation spell, Lord Talon?"

"I'd be happier," Erwin said testily. "If we hadn't needed it in the first place! Now cast a spell of protection on me and take these losers out of the picture!"

Ionis let out a soft grumble of discontent, his fingers waggling in his employer's general direction for a moment while he shifted his attention towards the cavern floor. "I was saving that spell for myself," Ionis said softly. "Greedy little twerp..."

"What was that, Ionis?"

Ionis coughed loudly into a closed fist and shook his head. "Nothing, Lord Talon!" Looking over his shoulder, Ionis watched Galford raise his hands towards one of Lendo's attack choppers while Zelda turned her attention towards the Montara twins. Ionis took a moment to consider who he should back up when he when he caught sight of a familiar blonde out of the corner of his eye. "Perfect." Raising his hand towards the ceiling, Ionis spun towards Gina's hiding spot and let loose a torrent of lighting, a smirk spreading across his lips as Gina's fearful expression. "Goodbye, Gold Digg..."

" _ **TATSUMAKI!"**_

Ionis stared in shock when a funnel of wind sprang to life around the explorers, his spell dissipating harmlessly as it struck the edge of the vortex. The fighting stopped instantly while everyone stared at the bizarre phenomenon, that is until they saw the blurry outline of someone walking through the localized tornado. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"You're all trespassing," Naruto's clone said calmly, the construct looking decidedly bored despite having walked through a natural disaster as if it were nothing. "So I'm going to have to ask you to leave, otherwise I'll have to kick your collective asses from one side of this cavern to the next."

* * *

Let me know what you think! Till next time!


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